Cravings
by 0RamblingRose0
Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave all sorts of things... but most of all each other. D9&10Rose. This is a series of stand alones that are sort of tied together. Rated M for things to come.
1. Part One: Tea and Comfort

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…

Story Title: Tea and Comfort  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG  
Summary: What better to deal with trauma than a hot cuppa, some chips, and a kiss? Post EotE  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

- Cravings Part One: Tea and Comfort -

The Doctor tried to ignore the subtle sound of Rose's inhaling. It was a slow movement that she was trying to disguise, along with trying to hold back her tears. She had been that way since coming back on board, after watching particles of her home planet float through space.

That, mixed with the fact she had nearly died, trauma was nearly a given. What was it she had said before they had left? About all the history and everyone being too busy trying to save their own lives to notice… Sadly, The Doctor knew he could relate… He had felt the same way, watching Gallifrey burn. Knowing the eminent destruction of his home planet and knowing, as he fled, that the event would go unnoticed to everyone involved.

He had questioned his own survival after all the others had gone. Somehow, he knew that was exactly what was going through Rose's tiny little primitive mind as she fought the urge to cry. The Doctor dared not to go around to the other side of the console or to turn toward her, he was too afraid his own fresh wounds would decide to open and fester.

He set the TARDIS to float in the vortex, to give Rose time to calm down before he took her some place else. Or, would this have been too much for her? Would she just want to run back to her horribly domestic life and ask him to avoid bringing her back into his formula of danger?

The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut when he heard Rose finally break. He could tell she was doing her damnedest to not let him know that she had started crying. He heard the seat move and listened as her feet started to rapidly retreat. Finally, The Doctor felt he could breathe again. Part of him felt relieved that she hadn't asked or seemed to expect him to put his arms around her and give her comfort. In spite of that part of his mind's objection, the other part of his mind wanted to comfort the girl.

But what would be more comforting to the human at this moment? Was she the sort that wanted to be alone or was she the kind that needed someone to hold her hand and assure her that everything was alright? Or perhaps she was the sort that thought she needed to be alone when really she needed to have that physical contact with another.

Human were so complicated. It was never this complicated with Gallifreyans.

Gallifreyans, plain and simple, just took a deep breath and walked on. They took things in stride. Occasionally they would think about what had happened. At that point they just took another deep breath and pushed the feelings away.

Humans had a word for that act. Humans called it repression or denial. For Gallifreyans it was the only way to be. There were greater things in the universe than mourning the loss of a one solitary planet. Besides, what did humans know, what with letting their emotions rule every aspect of their lives.

Then again, The Doctor ruefully realized, he had never really been an ideal Gallifreyan himself. He had a hard time letting go of watching Gallifrey being destroyed while he fought to save his own life… He still was having a hard time of it. If it was hard for him, a Gallifreyan -- one of the people of the universe that strived to be free of illogical thinking and never letting emotions play a part in decisions -- was having a hard time putting his soul at peace, he could only imagine what the events that had just transgressed had done to Rose.

Going through that would have made any human insane.

So, The Doctor decided to go and find Rose, just to make sure she was all right.

He had half expected to find her in a room, crying. But, imagine his surprise at finding Rose sitting idly in a room barely bigger than a cupboard. It had a little table for two, a few little cabinets and a little counter with a sink built into it. Next to the counter was a little range with a kettle perched on one of the two warming eyes, steam billowing out of the spout.

Rose was sipping slowly on a steaming cup of tea.

"There's another mug in the cabinet if you want some," Rose pointed out when she saw him looking between her and the steaming kettle. "There's plenty of hot water left, shouldn't have gotten cold yet."

Instead of joining Rose for tea, he simply occupied the little seat across from her. "You just experienced genuine trauma and you thought you needed a cup of tea?" The Doctor asked, his face twisting into a slightly confounded expression.

"That's almost exactly what Mickey said after I had my shop blown up." Rose shrugged slightly. "It's what my mum has always done. When one of my mates died, she kept the tea coming for hours. Me and my other friends just sat about drinking tea, remembering the good times and crying when we dared to laugh about a funny moment." Her expression turned vacant and unreadable for a moment. "Just can't believe it's gone…" She set her cup down and looked at him. "Of all the things I saw at the observation deck -- little blue men and women, a human that looked more alien than the actual aliens, that I can believe -- the only thing I can't believe is that the earth is now dead. And that no one got to see it go. Can you imagine what it's like to watch your home planet being destroyed and there's nothing you can do but try and save your own life?"

The Doctor stood and held his hand out to Rose. "Come on," he said lightly. Rose eyed his hand unsurely for a moment. He gave her a reassuring smile and she took his hand. He pulled her from her little chair. "I know just what to do."

"Where are we going then?" Rose asked as he lead her back down the corridor to the console room.

"You'll see," he replied simply, letting go of her hand to set the coordinates.

Rose yelped and laughed slightly when the TARDIS rumbled back to life. She took hold of the console to keep her footing. The Doctor couldn't help but return the grin Rose gave him. The engines powered back down as they materialized at their destination.

"When and where are we?" Rose asked.

"Go see," The Doctor said with a faint smile.

He watched as Rose walked down the landing, hesitating at the door for a moment before easing it open. When she finally slipped out of the door, The Doctor gazed down at the console, wondering if he should tell her about what had happened to Gallifrey. She would -- sort of -- understand wouldn't she? But how much would be enough? How much would be too much information?

He finally reasoned to himself to only tell her that his world was gone and that he was alone. Depending on her reaction to that much, he would then decide whether or not to tell her more, if she decided to continue on travelling with him.

When he had joined her in the crowded street, she had been looking around in awe -- as if she couldn't quite grasp the fact they were once again on an active, normal Earth. Her reaction had not been what he had expected when he told her about the fact his people had lost the war and that he was alone. He would have been able to deal with her expressing pity or some sort of sorrow. Instead of those normal human responses, she had looked up at him and said three little words that made both of his hearts feel like they had melted…

"You've got me."

And the fact she had chosen going for chips over returning to her home… The Doctor had been unable to do anything but take her hand and go for chips.

The table they ended up occupying as not much bigger than the one he had found her sitting at in the TARDIS. But, Rose seemed to have taken it on herself to not stay too far from him by keeping her little chair close to his as they enjoyed their chips. She had tentatively asked him for more information about his home before the war.

He told her about the orange skies and Rose had looked up at the greyish-blue overhead as if trying to imagine the rusty, orange-tinted skies of Gallifrey. He gave her little details about the beauty of Gallifrey and the Capitol. By time he had finished, Rose had a dreamy look in her eyes, as if she had formulated the image of Gallifrey in her head.

"It wasn't _that_ impressive," The Doctor commented. "Look at what you got here… Blue skies, green grass, yellow sun… wide array of colours."

"It sounds beautiful though," Rose replied quietly. "_Gallifrey_… Even from the name of the place it sounds like it was a beautiful place."

"It was," The Doctor said.

Rose looked at him sharply and The Doctor startled slightly, as if he had previously been lost in his own thoughts. "Is there any way to go and see it? Your home planet, you know, before it was destroyed. Like we're doing for the Earth?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. Gallifrey is -- was -- outside of time and space. It can't exist in one time and cease in another. They wouldn't exactly welcome you there at any rate, never thought much of humans that lot. They always thought I was a bit off for loving Earth so much."

Rose found his hand under the table and gave it a slight squeeze. The small smile she gave him was one of almost understanding and empathy for what he had lost. "Well, if it's any consolation, I wish we could see it. Guess we'll have to find another place then?"

"So you're staying?" The Doctor asked.

Rose picked up her final chip and studied it for a moment before looking up at him with a bright smile. "It'll take a lot more than some bitchy trampoline trying to kill us for you--" she jabbed him on the tip of his nose with her chip "-- to get rid of me." She put the chip promptly in her mouth and smiled smugly. "Besides," she nudged him with her elbow slightly. "Who else would let you take 'em on a date and pay for you?" Her eyes glimmered mischievously. "I'll be expecting some sort of repayment when we get back to the TARDIS."

"Oy," The Doctor barked. "Knowing you humans I know what you'll be expecting. And I'll have you know I don't do that on the first date."

The two of them laughed as they vacated their seats and started back toward the TARDIS, arm-in-arm.

"Can you even do that?" Rose asked curiously once they arrived at the old police box. She leaned against the side of the TARDIS as the Doctor fumbled with the key. He looked at her in shock and dropped the key. Rose felt her face flush slightly as The Doctor bent down to retrieve the key. "I mean, I know you're…" she thought for a moment before slowly pronouncing the name of his race "Gal-li-frey-an… But in what other ways do you lot look like us humans? How different are you?"

"Not too much," The Doctor replied, finally managing to get the key into the lock. "It's mostly internal that all the differences take place. Well, other than the obvious mental advantages we have over you lot." He disappeared inside of the TARDIS.

Rose pushed off from where she had been leaning against the ship and quickly followed him inside. "Internal?" she asked, closing the door. "How? What have you got, like, two hearts or sumthin'?"

"Yes."

Rose opened her mouth to say something but suddenly forgot what it was. So, she just looked at The Doctor oddly as he snatched a green sphere off the console and plopped down into the seats on the other side. "Really? Two hearts? Where's the other one?"

The Doctor propped his feet up on the console and rolled the little green sphere between his hands. "You ask too many questions. Are you sure you're pure human?" The glimmer in his eyes was teasing.

"Don't change the subject," Rose said, nudging one of his feet off the console. She folded her arms over her chest stubbornly and leaned against where his foot had previously been. "Where's the other one?"

"On the other side of course," The Doctor replied, as if it should have been the most obvious answer. He pointed to where the other rested in his chest.

Rose tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow. "Can I feel?"

The Doctor, once again, looked as if he had been caught by surprise. "My other heart?" Rose nodded with an excited grin. The Doctor looked at the green sphere in his hands and then back at Rose. He dropped his foot from its prop and leaned forward to put the sphere back onto the console. He shrugged as if to say, "If you must," and sat back in his seat again, hands behind his head.

Rose tentatively approached him, chewing her bottom lip. Before she could reach up, The Doctor took both of her hands and placed them over each of his hearts. Rose's eyes widened as she felt the two individually beating hearts strongly under her hands. For a moment, it felt like her own solitary heart became confused and tried to match the rapid paces. Even after The Doctor released her wrists, Rose kept her hands pressed against his chest.

"Amazing," she breathed, taking the few small steps to bring her closer to the Doctor. She looked up at the Doctor's face. His eyes were lingering on her lips. After a moment, his eyes finally flickered up to hers. Rose tried to speak, but discovered that her voice refused to form itself into words. She felt like she was being drawn in by some invisible force field, to The Doctor's lips.

Before long, her lips touched his and all seemed to be lost and beyond comprehension. It started out simple enough as a chaste touch of the lips. But, something happened and before Rose knew what was happening she was being pressed against the console…

The Doctor's mouth was boring down on hers, sucking the breath out of her lungs. She inhaled deep and sharp when his mouth tore away and went to her neck. His hands had already found the bottom of her shirt and snaked their way to her skin. Rose gasped as the coolness of his hands. She wrapped her legs around The Doctor's waist as he grinded himself against her.

Suddenly, the console let out a massive spark. The Doctor jumped back, wide eyed and Rose fell to the floor. The console shot out a few more sparks before coming to rest. Rose scurried out of the way while the Doctor frantically tried to find what had gone wrong with his ship. After a few minutes, he calmed down and turned to her.

"You all right Rose?" he asked.

Rose nodded shakily. "F- Fine." She scratched behind her ear and let her eyes drift to somewhere other than the Doctor. By time she finished looking over the floors and turned her attention back to The Doctor, he was turned back toward the console.

"Why don't you go get some sleep, Rose Tyler," The Doctor said quietly, not turning in her direction the slightest bit. "You've had a long day, you must be exhausted. I'll just fix the TARDIS back up and we'll go someplace else. It should take me a while and I don't want you getting bored and such."

"All right. G'night."

His tone had been firm and finale. Rose knew that if she tried to say anything else, she would just be shushed and shooed out of the console room so The Doctor could work in peace. So, she walked into the corridor and went in search of a room to sleep in.


	2. Part Two: Seduction

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…

Story Title: Seduction  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG  
Summary: There's more ways to seduce a person than just with hints of pleasure. The Doctor could seduce Rose with promises of plasma storms and frozen oceans. Rose seduced him with the promise his own memories. Post WWIII, pre-Dalek  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

- Cravings Part Two: Seduction -

His hand clutched hers tightly as they were tossed around in the little closet. Rose let out small screams each time they jolted. A hand slipped from one of his, so he held the source of the other hand close to him, hoping to protect it. A small scream when they collided with one of the walls let him know that Harriet had been the one to let go. There was a massive jolt followed by an ever so subtle rocking as the box came to a rest.

The Doctor looked around the darkness. Harriet was trying to get to her feet and Rose was under him.

It wasn't until that particular moment that the Doctor was aware of how tightly Rose had been clinging to him -- her legs wrapped tightly around his hips, her arms around his shoulders, her mouth buried in the crook of his neck. Rose was panting heavily against his neck. The Doctor ran his hands over Rose's body to make sure there were no serious injuries. After he was done, he wondered if he should have done it a little more quickly instead of slowly running his hands over the gentle curves.

"Everything all right Harriet?" The Doctor asked.

"Fine, fine," came the hurried reply. "How are you and your friend?"

"Fine," Rose said breathlessly, finally easing the bodily grip she had on The Doctor. "What about you Doctor?" Her nimble little hands shoved into his jacket to do the same sort of check on him as he had just done her. Her hands lingered just a little too long on his backside, but Rose either didn't seem to notice or care. "You're heavy, you know," she teased, giving his bum a slight tap.

The Doctor chuckled slightly and pulled himself off of Rose, then helped her to her feet.

"I think we could really use a vacation after this," The Doctor commented, trying to step over scattered remnants of furniture after they were out of the cupboard. "Someplace that is far from being invaded by any sort of alien life forms."

"Sounds like a good idea," Rose replied, tripping slightly on a piece of chair. "I just have to make sure my mum is all right first."

When Rose retreated to Powell Estates, The Doctor retreated to the TARDIS to try and find the perfect places to get some peace and quiet. Of course, their first stop was simply a gesture to seduce Rose into coming along again, in case her mum was trying to convince her to stay. He didn't know many girls that could say "no" to hitching a ride to anywhere on a plasma storm, human or not.

Before he picked up the TARDIS phone, he paused. It suddenly hit him that he was going out of his way to try and keep Rose Tyler on board. Hell, he had went back in time and given the girl a red bicycle for Christmas when she was twelve right after he had left her with Mickey hanging pathetically onto her -- though he wasn't entirely sure she realized he was the man behind the fake white beard, saying he was going door to door trying to get a winner for a Christmas prize sponsored by a famous children's charity. Not to mention other things he had done before returning back to 2005 to pick her up.

Surely all this went beyond gratitude for saving his life when they went head to head with the Nestine Consciousness…

The engines hummed pleasantly, as if trying to get his attention. The Doctor affectionately stroked the console as he picked up the TARDIS phone. "Don't be so impatient, girl. We just have to get Rose back and we'll be on our way."

He put the phone down when he felt a feeling of disapproval from the TARDIS, obviously there was something bothering his ship more than the fact she was sitting still. "Who did and when?" He ran around to the viewing screen to see a young boy spray painting graffiti on the side of the TARDIS. "Just find him and I'll get him to get it off all right?" The TARDIS hummed appreciatively.

Almost instantly there was a knock on the TARDIS door. When the Doctor answered the door the boy he had seen on the screen was standing there with a bucket and a scrubbing brush. "My mum said she got a call from a lady that I had painted on the side of your phone box. Said I was to come and clean it off before the owner got angry with me."

The Doctor grinned widely and folded his arms across his chest. "Well get to it then. This a vintage phone box, don't want you lot painting all over it!" When the Doctor closed the door, he laughed. "Now how did you manage that ?" he asked, petting the console. "Can I have permission to call Rose now?" The TARDIS was clearly annoyed a bit but gave him permission. "Oh come on now, she likes _you_." The Doctor smiled brightly when he felt a curious feeling in the air. "Because she knows how wonderful you are, what other reason would she have?"

There was a hesitant hum of approval. The TARDIS was clearly giving in and approving of Rose, even though she didn't _want_ to like the human. The Doctor had the keen feeling the whole reason the TARDIS didn't want to get too overly fond of Rose was that eventually the girl would leave. He just sighed slightly and gave the console a reassuring stroke. "I know the feeling," he said. "But we both know that it will be much more fun with her coming along. Come on, how long's it been since we had one of these amusing little apes on board?" The TARDIS hummed gently. "Really? I hadn't noticed. But, I guess she is kinda nice looking for a human."

After he made his call, they were gone within a few hours. Ah yes, he had easily seduced Rose back onto the TARDIS. Though, perhaps he should have tried a little harder to get her boyfriend to come along. At least then, The Doctor felt, he would have been able to be some sort of barrier between Rose and whatever his hearts were feeling anytime she was around.

He could tell by the way Jackie had acted that she had unsuccessfully tried to convince Rose to stay. But what could honestly compete with the thrill of being able to ride the shockwaves of a plasma storm?

They had hovered at the edge of the Horsehead Nebula while he tried to track down where the plasma storm would be coming from. Rose had stood at the screen, watching the play of colours from the nebula with amazement. The Doctor beamed with pride as he finished tracking the storm down and went to join Rose at the screen.

He stood behind her and took her hands, placing them on the console. "You may want to hold tight," he whispered in her ear. "It'll be here in five minutes' time…" The TARDIS shuttered. "Or maybe less."

"Oh my God," Rose said in surprise as flames erupted from deep within the nebula, spreading out in every direction.

"Ready?" The Doctor asked. "I promised we'd go right into and ride it out didn't I?"

Rose looked up at him, her eyes gleaming with adventure as she nodded. The TARDIS groaned when the Doctor reached up and pulled the final lever. After a split second of hesitation, the TARDIS zoomed toward the centre of the brewing storm. The storms exploded into full force. The TARDIS shuttered, sending both The Doctor and Rose falling backwards into the rails surrounding the console as it came to a sudden stop.

Rose slowly pulled herself to her feet. "Is that it?" she asked, looking down at the Doctor, who was still clinging to the railing.

"Nope," The Doctor grinned, holding his hand out to Rose. "If I were you, I'd hang on."

Rose's eyes widened as the ship began to rumble and shake. She took the Doctor's hand and joined him in his rail clinging just before the TARDIS gave a jerk followed by more shaking. In an instant it felt like they were thrown back as the TARDIS was thrust out into space by the shockwaves. The more the ship shook and shuttered, the tighter Rose clung to The Doctor.

It was more thrilling than the fastest amusement park ride. Then, without warning, the TARDIS came to an abrupt stop, flinging both the Doctor and Rose onto the level below the raised console. This time it was Rose on top of him, panting heavily as she looked down at his face.

"That was… wonderful…" Rose panted. She grinned widely. "Can we do that again?"

"And what? Lessen the thrill of the first time?" The Doctor teased. "Ge'off me so I can see where we ended up."

Rose took a deep breath and rolled off of the Doctor. The Doctor sprang to his feet and climbed back up to the console, checking their current coordinates. Rose slowly pulled herself up to join him, peeking around his shoulder at the planet showing on the screen.

"Where are we then?" she asked.

"Somewhere safe, ironically. Peaceful place this is," The Doctor said. He pointed at the solitary continent. "See how it's shaped?"

"Looks sort of like a woman," Rose commented.

"Because this is the planet of Woman Wept," The Doctor informed. "If we're lucky we can get there before nightfall."

"What happens at nightfall?" Rose asked excitedly. "Is there some sort of colourful sunset?"

"You'll see," The Doctor preened slightly. He set the coordinates and pointed to a cloud formation along one of the coasts. "We're going to land right around there. Looks like there's a storm coming in. There'll be waves at least a hundred feet high… It'll be fantastic!"

The TARDIS shuttered to life as it journeyed to the planet below. It materialized on top of a high cliff, over-looking the brewing storm.

"You might want to get a warmer coat on before we go out, gets pretty cold after dark here," The Doctor said. "The planet's just far enough away from the sun that everything freezes the instant it rotates out of the rays. Go ahead to the wardrobe room, we got about an hour before it happens."

Rose smiled brightly and hurried into the corridor. When she returned she was bundled up for the winter, including an old scarf the Doctor had not seen in _years_. The Doctor couldn't help but have an amused smile at seeing the long scarf whirled around Rose's neck.

"This thing is long enough for three people, I bet," Rose said, playing with the separate ends of the scarf. "You said it would be cold so I figured this would be my best bet at staying warm."

The Doctor took one of the ends from Rose's hand and gave a half-amused smile. "Where'd you find it? I've been looking for it for years."

Rose shrugged slightly. "Don't know. I was there, thinking I needed some wintry goods to keep me warm and there it was… hanging out of a box with this coat." She thumbed the lapels of the long brown coat, puffing out her chest proudly. She relaxed her pose and dug into the pockets. "All right, I know I put --"

She beamed when she pulled a toboggan out of one of the pockets. She bent down when there was the sound of something else hitting the floor. Rose studied the glasses she retrieved from the floor with interest then tucked them away into an inner pocket. "Ah well, all ready!" she boasted, pulling the toboggan onto her head, covering her ears.

"Would it be rude of me to think you're excited?" The Doctor teased.

Rose shook her head, grinning widely. "What about you? Aren't you going to get on warmer clothes?"

"I'll be fine," The Doctor assured, offering Rose his arm.

Rose linked her arm with his and the two of them stepped out of the TARDIS.

It was already raining tiny pieces of ice as the skies overhead rumbled with thunder. Rose looked down at the beach below them then walked around the back of the TARDIS.

"There's no people? No civilization? Just the beach?" Rose asked taking in the grey spans of land.

"There is further inland," The Doctor replied, joining Rose at the edge of the cliffs when she returned to them. "Domed cities to keep the citizens warm during the nightfall. They're all impressive and such, but they're nothing compared to here." He looked at his watch. "Sun is beginning to set."

"How can you tell with the storm and all?" Rose asked, looking up at the Doctor. She shivered slightly and pulled the coat around her a little tighter.

"It's getting colder," The Doctor said.

It took nearly half an hour for the sun to completely disappear from the horizon. Almost as soon as darkness enveloped them, the sound of the furious waves ceased. The sound of the waves was replaced by the groaning of the water freezing so quickly. Rose looked up at The Doctor then back down at the beach.

"It… froze," Rose said in disbelief. "Just like that… It froze. How…?"

"The moment the sun completely disappears behind the horizon, the temperatures instantly drop to subzero," The Doctor explained. "Sun is too small, too far away, and the planet is too large to keep the waters from freezing."

"It's _beautiful_," Rose breathed. "Can we go down there?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Don't see why not. It's not going to be moving for about sixteen hours. Just have to find a safe place to walk down."

Rose squealed with laughter as her boots slid across the ice. She grabbed onto a patch of frozen foam, that was attached to a large rock, to keep from falling. Once she got her footing again, she slid from behind the rock and back to where she could see The Doctor, pleasantly sitting on the beach and drawing in the sand with his finger.

"Having fun?" he asked, messing up his sand writing as Rose slid off of the ice and only to course sand.

"It would be even more fun if you would join in. As it is I just feel like some crazy person," Rose commented, plopping down on the cold ground next to him. She looked down the long span of beach. "This is just amazing. Even the foam froze. Those waves have to be at least a hundred feet high." She hurried back to her feet and dusted off the sand. She held her hand out to The Doctor. "Come on. I feel silly being the only one sliding around on the ice." She smiled widely and wiggled her fingers. When it seemed like he was not going to take her up on the offer, Rose threw in a mock pout.

The Doctor heaved a sigh and stood. "Can we try to keep to the sand though? Never been too good at walking on ice, me." Rose huddled up close to the Doctor when he took her hand.

They walked right along the icy edge of the beach, a giant frozen wave arching over their heads. Eventually the two came to a stop next to several rocks that had foam frozen mid splash up their sides. Rose leaned against the ice and studied the Doctor as he looked at the landscape. Rose worried her bottom lip before finally asking, "Did you have oceans on Gallifrey?"

The Doctor turned to her abruptly, his brown was furrowed in confusion. After a moment the expression relaxed and he smiled gently. "They didn't freeze if that's what you mean."

"Just in general. You told me a lot about the land and all, but you never mentioned any beaches," Rose shrugged.

"We used to have large oceans. But that was long before I came about. In my lifetime all they had was a couple of small oceans. Nothing like this," the Doctor indicated the frozen waves with his hand. Rose gulped slightly when the Doctor took steps closer to her, looking down at her intently. "Why do you have so much interest in a place we can never go?"

Rose shrugged slightly, feeling a slight chill as the ice sank through the coat she was wearing. "You know everything about the Earth, what would it hurt for me to know about Gallifrey?"

"But it's not on a map, you've never even seen the slightest picture, it doesn't even _exist_ anymore. Why would you want to know about a place that doesn't exist?" The Doctor asked.

He was now standing directly in front of Rose, holding the tips of her fingers in his hands. Rose exhaled shakily

"Because," Rose said breathlessly. "It was _your_ home. And you lost it. You're the only one alive that can tell about what it looked like, what happened there, and what the other Gallifreyans were like. I might not have ever seen it, but in my mind I can imagine what Gallifrey looked like because of what you've told me. That way, if you ever forget, I can remind you."

The Doctor took her face in his hands. "I can't even begin to understand what goes on in that little mind of yours. Just when I think I've figured you out, you do something like this and remind me of how extraordinary the human race can be when it wants to be." His eyes roamed over her face. For a split second Rose thought he was going to lean in and kiss her, but he seemed to think better of it and pulled back immediately, taking a few steps away from her.

Rose brought the end of the scarf up to her mouth to warm her lips. The Doctor turned and studied the silhouette of the TARDIS on the cliff, his hand buried deep in his pockets.

"Doctor…" Rose said quietly, reaching out and placing a hand on his arm. He turned to her slowly. "Since we're on the subject of the human race…"

"Hmm?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"You almost didn't save it. You hesitated before Harriet ordered you to use the missile," Rose commented. "Because you didn't want to lose me."

Rose could tell the Doctor had his teeth clenched as he gazed down at her. He inhaled deeply then slowly exhaled. "Just didn't want to hear it from your mum is all," he said light-heartedly. "I knew you'd be clever enough to think of something to keep us safe. And you did. I wouldn't have thought of the cupboard in a million years."

"So the whole speech about how you could save the world but lose me was…"

"Just to get the little gears in your little mind working to come up with a away to keep us safe," The Doctor grinned, looking everywhere but at Rose. "Let's get back to the TARDIS, it's getting a little too cold out here, even for me."

Without another word, the Doctor turned and started walking toward the crude stairway on the side of the cliff. Rose felt her heart flutter slightly as she watched him retreat. She smiled brightly and ran to catch up to him, latching her arm through his. "Doctor, can I tell you something?" Rose looked up at him, grinning ear to ear.

"Go ahead," The Doctor said, looking down at her with an equally bright smile.

"You're a terrible liar."

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, and Rose kept onward toward the little steps ahead. She glanced over her shoulder and laughed at the perplexed expression on his face.

Part Three Coming Soon.


	3. Part Three: Touch

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…

Story Title: Touch  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Sometimes a reassuring hand in your own is enough to sooth the worst of fears. Post-Dalek  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

Cravings Part Three: Touch

He had scarcely let a moment go by without touching her hand at least half a dozen times. He'd turn a knob, then squeeze her fingers. After flipping a switch he would gently run his fingers over the back of her hand. Then, just for good measure, he'd pull a lever then gently envelope her hand with his. Rose could tell he wasn't wanting to let her know he was fussing. However, Rose couldn't help but have to suppress a grin each time he touched her for the briefest of moments.

Then, it had taken every fibre of her being to keep from giggling at the horrified look that crossed The Doctor's face when she announced she was going to show Adam to a room to sleep in. Of course, the Doctor couldn't argue with the fact the lad look ready to fall out from shock.

"Does he always go on about touching you so much?" Adam asked, once out of hearing range.

Rose could sense a bit of mild jealousy coming from the lad. "Yeah," she shrugged. "His way of making sure I'm all right. He can do this thing where he can touch someone and know if they're okay. Very paranoid about me getting hurt since my mum gave him a good slap."

"You sure that's all?" Adam asked, with an edge of scepticism.

"I've no reason to go on lying to you do I? Now off to bed, you've had a trying day," Rose laughed, ushering Adam into one of the TARDIS' many rooms.

Before Adam could make any further comments, Rose shut him in the room and hurried back to the console room. She paused outside of the doorway. The Doctor was leaned against the console, his face in his hands. He let out a loud sigh and dropped his hands. He turned and placed his hands on the console, looking down at one of the many knobs.

"Did I give you permission to remind me of that?" The Doctor asked, sounding mildly annoyed. "The memory is fresh enough I don't need _you_ bringing it up."

Rose tried to keep herself hidden so she could watch the rare treat of the Doctor having words with his TARDIS. She put her lips close to the wall and whispered in amusement, "Whatever it is, give him hell." Rose stopped in surprise when she realized that she had not only just whispered to the TARDIS, but had also been stroking the wall she had been whispering into. Rose put her hands into her pockets before she started stroking and sweet talking the TARDIS the same way she had seen the Doctor do on several occasions. But she looked back at the wall, wondering if she had felt amusement coming from it.

"If I want your opinion, I'll ask… Oy! What was that for?" The Doctor snatched his hands off the console abruptly. "Well that hurt, I'll have you know."

Rose did her best not to bust out with laughter, but a slight hint of a snicker found its way out of her mouth. The Doctor turned toward the corridor and raised an eyebrow, a grin spread across his features. "You can stop hiding now Rose, the fun is done."

Rose eased into the console room, laughing. "You just can't win can you? My mum slaps you, the TARDIS zaps you, no matter what it seems all the women just want to abuse you."

"You're not any better," The Doctor accused. He walked around to the other side of the console, keeping his eyes on her as he mucked about with switches.

Rose took a seat in the console seats, crossing her legs primly with her hands folded neatly in her lap. "Oh so giving a slight tap with a plastic arm counts as abuse to the almighty Time Lords?"

"Ah but you're not taking into consideration all the mental abuse you put me through," The Doctor replied smartly.

Rose rolled her eyes and gave a sarcastic sigh. "Oh come off it."

"You do," The Doctor walked around and leaned against the console in front of Rose, his arms folded over his chest defensively. "I think you've set a new record of causing me mental anguish when you wander off."

"You're the one that left me with Adam and went off with Van Statten. So it's your fault I got into trouble." Rose smartened herself up slightly. "Besides, I can't help you're masochist--"

"Me!"

"Yes you!" Rose laughed. She stopped laughing and looked down at her hands, sighing. "If it's any consolation, I'm just as bad. Telling that Dalek… thing… to go on and kill me. It got a good bit angry with me because I started being scared of it."

The Doctor slowly walked over to stand close to her, putting his hands on hers. Rose turned her hands over so she could entwine her fingers with his. Suddenly all the fear that had been rushing through her blood while running from the Dalek seemed like a distant memory. The Doctor was no longer on an upper floor while she was trapped behind a wall.

He was right there in front of her, holding her hand like he always did. His pulse was becoming a little more rapid than it usually was. Somehow, that was very assuring to Rose.

She wanted to ask The Doctor why the Dalek had used the words it had. It could have used a vast amount of word combinations… It could have called her The Doctor's associate, or used the Doctor's favourite term of "companion". Rose could list several words that would have done well in that situation. _Attendant, travel buddy, partner_…

But of all the words it could have used, The Dalek had called her "the woman you love."

Rose looked up at the Doctor. He could stand there and tell her that the creature didn't know what love was, but she knew by the look in his eyes that he wasn't even going to _attempt _to rationalize this one. He may have been able to charm his way out of the Slitheen ordeal, but this time there was no question as to what the words had meant. He couldn't leave it up to the Dalek not knowing what love was, because it had rebuilt itself off of human DNA. It knew everything Rose knew… It knew what the billions of people on the internet knew. And there were plenty of people on there lamenting about love for the Dalek to have formulated its own concept of what love was supposed to be. It must have just misjudged what that fragile emotion really meant.

Rose closed her eyes as the Doctor lifted his hands to gently touch her cheeks. His fingertips traced the lines of her jaw. Rose subconsciously uncrossed her legs and let her hands drop into the seat, sitting up a little better so The Doctor wouldn't have to lean over too far to touch her.

The Doctor rested his lips lightly against her forehead as his fingers journeyed down the sides of her neck. It almost felt like each inch of her that he touched was waking up after being asleep, even though his fingers were barely grazing her skin. His fingers trailed over her shoulders and down her arms, hovering over Rose's own fingers before trailing back up her arms.

His hands slid to her back, lingering in their journey only when his hands met the warm flesh that was between the waistline of her jeans and the bottom of her top. The Doctor breathed raggedly against her forehead as his fingers explored the exposed flesh he found there. He kept one hand on the small of her back as he brought the other back up to Rose's neck. Rose felt her head fall back as the hand at her neck roamed lower. She could feel the Doctor gently nuzzling the nape of her neck with his nose as the hand paused for a moment at her heart before gently exploring the surrounding area.

Rose gave a slow, ragged breath. The Doctor lifted his face away from her neck. Rose opened her eyes and gazed into depths of the Doctor's blue eyes. Rose could see so many different things in The Doctor's eyes. There were so many different scenarios that could be played out from that moment… she could see rusty-orange skies surrounding a domed city in the light of a solitary moon, more beautiful than she could have ever thought to imagine… she could see kisses getting out of control and leading to undreamt of outcomes… a golden light.

"Rose? Doctor?"

Both The Doctor and Rose startled at the sound of Adam's voice deep in the corridor. Rose instantly became aware that her hands were no longer in the seat, but had found themselves with one on the arm that was still wrapped around her back and her other hand was tickling the back of his neck. The Doctor took a deep breath and sighed before turning back to the console as Adam walked into the console room. Rose forced herself to smile at Adam.

"Is there a bathroom or a shower room here?" Adam asked. "Might help me to relax enough to get some sleep."

Rose slipped out of the console seat and turned toward Adam. She nervously scratched behind her ear. "Of course there is.," she said with false eagerness. She glanced over her shoulder at the Doctor, he was now on the other side of the console looking at Adam with an almost murderous look in his eyes. Rose suddenly got the mental image of The Doctor drowning Adam in the bath and couldn't help but smile. She turned back to Adam. "I'll show ya where its at."

_So close_. He could almost taste her on his lips. It would have been a kiss worth remembering, if only Adam hadn't shown up. The Doctor tighten his grip on the console, ignoring the searing heat that spread into his palms because the TARDIS didn't like being handled roughly. It wasn't until the TARDIS gave him a good zap that The Doctor stepped away from the console. But still, he did not take his eyes away from the door that led to the corridor.

_What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?_

The question still lingered at the back of the Doctor's mind. It had been repeating over and over in his mind as he had touched her so gently. Each touch had told him, the only way he could keep her safe was to never let her out of his sight again, to keep touching her. It defied logic but The Doctor was sure, somewhere in the depths of his mind, it made perfect sense. Luckily, his mind found a reference… a damn good reference.

When he had taken her hand and told her about the Earth spinning. Though he wasn't entirely sure how it played into his current situation, the Doctor accepted it as the logic behind the madness.

Keep her close, don't stop touching her… Because the moment he let go, she would be gone.


	4. Part Four: A Kiss Goodnight

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…

Story Title: A Kiss Goodnight  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Someone wants a kiss… Post-Father's Day  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

Part Four: A Kiss Goodnight

He was having a strange sense of déjà vu, which was fairly uncommon in spite of his circumstances. Only this time, The Doctor was fairly sure it would take more than a cup of tea and some chips to sooth her this time. All he could do was sit there, in the console seat, with her face buried against his chest and his arms around her waist.

She had just lost her father, again. Only this time she was old enough to know what had happened. Everything had been set right but everything still felt so wrong. The Doctor could feel the range of emotions going through Rose's mind. Whether it was really him feeling them directly from the source or if the TARDIS was translating them, he wasn't sure. Either way, he hated the fact Rose was feeling them.

Without warning, Rose stepped back and looked at him through teary eyes. She touched his face with her fingers, biting down on her bottom lip. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed harder.

"I lost you," Rose whispered against his neck.

The Doctor held Rose at arms length and caught her chin with his finger, making her look at him in the eyes. "No you didn't. I'm right here," he assured. "We're both alive. Are you all right though?"

Rose inhaled deeply, her eyes darting off to look elsewhere. "When that thing… attacked you… I…" She pulled her chin off of his fingers and buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry."

"I've survived worse," The Doctor shrugged. Okay, maybe he hadn't but he wasn't entirely sure. He had done lots of things that could easily compare with sacrificing himself to a reaper. When Rose looked at him, he could tell she didn't believe him. The Doctor grinned broadly in an attempt to get the same from Rose. "What? You think that in 900 years I haven't done things that have gotten me killed or almost killed? I'll have you know I typically get by on just shear dumb luck."

Rose pressed her lips together tightly. "But it was my fault…"

"And you apologized. That's enough for me. I'm too old to go about holding grudges," The Doctor took her face in his hands. "Is that what all this crying was over? That you thought you killed me?"

Rose shook her head. "Other things too," Rose said between hiccoughs. The Doctor was only partially convinced she was telling the whole truth.

The Doctor ran his knuckles along Rose's jaw line. He had forgiven her and tucked it away n the back of his mind in the "past events that don't matter" part of his brain. After all, as he had told Rose, he was too old to go about holding grudges. So it was now up to her to forgive herself, that was something left entirely up to her because he couldn't force her not to feel guilty.

Rose inhaled deeply and a faint smile touched the corner of her mouth. If he didn't know any better, the Doctor would have thought Rose had recently formed an addiction to the way he had taken to touching her constantly. It seemed that was all he needed to do at times to make her smile. Or maybe it was him that developed the addiction.

The Doctor reached up with his thumbs and wiped away the tears that were sticking to Rose's lashes. She rested her shaky hands against his thighs and sighed softly, as if she wasn't sure such an action would be allowed.

"My 'ead hurts," Rose said with a weak laugh.

"From all the crying I bet," The Doctor replied. He gently pulled Rose closer and lightly pressed his lips to her forehead. He heard Rose hold her breath for the duration of his lips against her skin. When he pulled back, he gave her a smile. "All better?"

Rose's eyes were lingering on his lips. "My mouth hurts too," she muttered, barely loud enough to hear.

"What?" The Doctor asked, just trying to make sure he had heard her correctly.

Rose startled slightly. "I didn't say anythin'," she said quickly, casting her eyes downward.

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"You did," The Doctor insisted.

"If I did, then what did I say?" Rose huffed, stubbornly meeting his gaze.

The Doctor didn't answer. Unless one considered pressing his lips against Rose's could be taken as an answer. He liked the way she instantly seemed to let her defences melt away and returned the kiss. Her hands went behind his neck, making sure he couldn't escape. His arms went around her waist, pulling her closer. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth, giving it a slight nip before once again exploring the sweetness inside of Rose's mouth.

He wasn't sure how long it lasted just that ended entirely too soon and that he felt he hadn't really done his best. Her mouth lingered close to his, he could feel her hot breath against his lips.

"Anything else you need to have kissed better?" The Doctor panted.

Rose took a step back, tasting her lips with her tongue. She took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. "Not right now," she whispered, touching her bottom lip with her fingertips. "I'm sure I could think of something later though. Good night."

The moment Rose lowered her hand from her lips, The Doctor pulled her to him again and caught her mouth in another kiss. He wasn't really sure _why_ he did it, other than the plan and simple reason that he wanted to. This time, he lingered… he didn't rush. He held Rose as close as he could without pulling her up into his lap. His tongue gently coaxed Rose's into joining the fun between their two mouths.

Taking great care not to break the kiss, The Doctor eased out of the console seat and rotated their positions so he could lift Rose up onto the seat instead. Rose pulled back slightly when The Doctor had set her down on the seat, but the Doctor quickly remedied the separation before her lips could fully form whatever words she had been about to say. He pulled her legs around his waist and leaned into her.

This time there wasn't a console underneath her to shower off sparks because, apparently, it didn't like being used for non-traveling purposes. There was, however, a slippery spot on the grating that The Doctor just _happened_ to find -- though when he looked for the spot later on, it had magically disappeared. It literally brought him to his knees in front of Rose.

At first Rose had seemed concerned about the sudden fall, but the moment he looked up at her she had burst into laughter. "What did you slip on?" she asked, her voice still ringing with amusement.

The Doctor slowly stood back up and felt his knees, looking at his hands when he was done. "Looks like…" he sniffed his fingers. "Hand sanitizer. What is hand sanitizer doing on my ship?" He looked around the console room and only felt a vague sense of amusement floating in the air.

"Well if something like this is going to happen every time we get a kiss in…" Rose commented, tucking some hair behind her ear. "… Then I guess we need to just not kiss anymore." She slid off of the seat and gave him a cat-like smile. "Thank you Doctor, for everything you done today." She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his cheek then walked out of the console room.

The Doctor turned toward the console and ran his hands affectionately over it. "Think you're funny don't you?" The TARDIS hummed gently. "Well, you may think you're clever but I am not amused. Worse than a sibling you are." He snatched one of the green sphere's off the console and rolled it thoughtfully between his hands. "Now let's see where we can take our Rose today…"

He put down the sphere and started scanning for an impressive place that would be guaranteed to leave Rose breathless. And perhaps he would get another kiss out of it.


	5. Part Five: Vacation

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…

Story Title: Vacation  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Sometimes when you go on vacation, that's the last thing you get… The Doctor, Rose, and Jack know the feeling all too well. Pre-Boom Town  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

Part Five: Vacation

Rose had said they deserved a vacation. The Doctor couldn't argue.

With the help of his newest companion, Captain Jack Harness, they had gone to a lovely little planet The Doctor had all but forgotten existed. Of course, the Doctor thought bitterly, Jack _would_ know all the best places to get some relaxation. The Doctor had to give Jack that much… but he still refused to like the man.

It had only been two days since saving war torn London from the nanogene confusion. The Doctor didn't know what Jack was up to, but he definitely didn't like the way he would lean over and whisper to Rose, making her laugh. Worse yet is that Rose and Jack would then look at The Doctor and snicker under their breaths and go back into a frenzy of whispers.

Ah, but that seemed to change during their "vacation" to the planet Jack had selected. It was an obscure place that acted as a constant vacation spot except for two months every fifty years. That was only because of a somewhat carnivorous race that liked to have the planet all to themselves when _they_ went on vacation… and all those that got in the way became their dinners.

It had gone perfect at first… Two blissful hours in on pure white beaches and ideal aquamarine waves crashing on the shore. The Doctor had changes into a slightly brighter colored jumper, pushed up the sleeves, and left his old leather jacket on the console seat. Jack had gone all out, almost literally, in a tactless little Speedo type deal. The big surprise had been Rose emerging from the corridor in some old cutoff jeans and her union jack, her hair up in a high ponytail, and carrying a mesh bag.

It wasn't until they had set up their oceanside picnic that The Doctor discovered that the cutoffs and the union jack had only been a tactile diversion from what she was wearing underneath. The Doctor and Jack watching slack jawed when Rose jumped to her feet and announced, "I don't know about you lads but I am ready get these clothes off and then _I_ am going for a swim."

Before the Doctor could warn her that it was not a nude beach, she had whipped the union jack off to reveal a pale pink bikini top.

"Swim sounds really good right about now," Jack said quickly and hurried to the water.

Rose turned to the Doctor with her eyebrow cocked curiously, her fingers perched at the button of her cutoffs. "You two didn't really think I was going to be takin' all my clothes off did you?"

"Well, you did insinuate it," The Doctor pointed out in a surprising calm voice. "Should have been more detailed in what we would be seeing once the clothes were off. Then Jack wouldn't have had to go runnin' off."

Rose rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. She turned back toward the water as she fumbled with the button of her cutoffs.

Even though the Doctor knew there would be some sort of little bottom beneath the cutoffs, it didn't change the fact he couldn't tear his eyes away while Rose wiggled out of them. When she turned back around to kick the discarded article onto the blanket next to him, The Doctor pretended he had been looking at the water instead. He had been so busy trying to pretend he hadn't been looking at Rose undressing that he was missing the gaze she was giving him… Well, until she cleared her throat.

"Need something?" The Doctor asked, finally looking at Rose.

"Why won't you come along too?" Rose asked, plopping down in the sand in front of him. "Get into something more relaxed and have a swim…"

"Can't," The Doctor shrugged. "Nowhere to put the sonic screwdriver. I'll just stay here and watch the simple little humans play in the water." He made a slight shooing motion with his hands. "Besides, what if the all-impressive Captain got it wrong and this _is_ the fiftieth year?"

Rose eyed the water then looked back to The Doctor. "Water would be the worst place to be in that instance wouldn't it?"

"Definitely," The Doctor said. "Not only would it make it five times harder for you to get away, but that's where they would come in. Their ships lock onto any water formations and draw them in. The people in the water would have about ten -- fifteen at the most -- seconds _maybe_ to get out before becoming lunch."

Rose looked between The Doctor and the pleasantly crashing waves. She looked between the two while chewing on her bottom lip. Finally she sighed heavily and grabbed up the bag she had brought along. She ploughed through it, looking for something in the mass of towel, sunglasses, and other various beach-ready items. She pulled out a little mp3 player and a bottle of lotion.

"In that case," Rose grinned. "I'm going to take full advantage of this --well, these-- lovely suns and work on my tan." Without another word, Rose set to applying her sunning lotion. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of her bag and put them on then put her little ear pieces in her ears. She settled onto the blanket, humming along with the music pouring into her ears.

It wouldn't have been half bad if The Doctor hadn't placed himself at the far corner of the blanket, underneath the shade of an umbrella. But, as it was, he was in the corner and Rose was laid out in front of him basking in the sun. So, he really had nothing better to look at unless one counted the ocean waves and people frolicking in them -- which he didn't. Why look at water and lots of people when there's one almost naked right in front of him?

The Doctor suddenly wished his hearts could decided what they were wanting to do. One had completely stopped and the other was beating rapidly to make up for it. When Rose shifted slightly and moaned with contentment, the previously non-beating heart started matching the pace of the other. The Doctor was beginning to feel somewhat dizzy and his ears were buzzing…

No, wait… it wasn't his ears that were buzzing. Whatever it was, it was beginning to get louder. Then there was screaming.

The Doctor leapt to his feet and ran out from under the umbrella to look up at the sky. In the distance, he could see three large rock-like formations zooming toward the beach. People were now scream and running for their belongings with desperation. The Doctor reached down and yanked Rose up without warning.

"What is it?" she demanded in annoyance, until her ear pieces dropped out of her ears. Then, with shock, she repeated, "What is it?"

"Don't know but it can't be good," The Doctor replied.

"Just once, I would like to go someplace without having to worry about running for my life," Rose grumbled, snatching off her glasses and throwing them down. "Where's Jack?"

"Right here!" Jack called, running up. He looked up at the approaching ships.

The three of them watched the decent of the three rock like formations. The Doctor immediately recognized the vessels. "What'll it be Rose? Run for our lives or try and save the planet? They aren't here to eat, they're here to collect."

"They?" Rose asked. "Is that the ones--"

"No," The Doctor said. "More like distant cousins of them."

The ships flew overhead and landed in the water, sending large waves crashing onto the shore. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack were the only ones not attempting to run for their lives. The Doctor felt Rose slide her hand into his, he squeezed her fingers slightly.

"Who are they?" Jack asked. "I haven't ever seen those ships before. And that's saying something."

"Slave traders," The Doctor said. "They go about capturing all sorts and turn the men into manual laborers and the women into…" His voice trailed off and he looked over at Rose. "Let's just say they would probably like you as you are right now Rose."

"I'm guessing this is where I'm supposed to flee in terror back to the TARDIS?" Rose asked.

"It was worth a try," The Doctor grinned down at Rose. "Well, then, that just leaves you Captain?"

"I'm prepared for anything," Jack replied promptly, casting Rose a flirtatious smile.

As it turned out, they were _not_ prepared for anything. Slave trading, they could have easily dealt with. However, contrary to what the Doctor had thought, the creatures that had come were _not_ slave traders, nor were they carnivorous -- the opposite actually -- what they in fact _were_ was a band of scientists from a planet not too far off from the little beach vacation spot.

It didn't hurt that the creatures were actually very peaceful sorts, they just wanted to study everything. The situation put The Doctor in a bind, both figuratively and literally. Literally because they had cuffed his hands behind his back when he threatened them with the sonic screwdriver. Figuratively, because the Doctor was not entirely sure that the situation would allot his mercy -- He didn't much like being cuffed without access to his sonic screwdriver, even though it was securely tucked in his front pocket, just for the sake of a study experiment. Even though the aliens had been saying they were studying human habits and the Doctor firmly argued that he wasn't one, they said he was close enough.

Not to mention their taunt of, "If you can find a way to escape, we will let everyone go" just before trapping him into the little room.

Jack had been toted off instantly because he had not only tried to flirt his way out of captivity by with the capturer, but had also attempted to charm a woman that had been being escorted to the cells by one of the creatures next to him.

Thankfully, The Doctor had been able to at least plead for Rose to be kept within his reach, so she was in the little observation room with him. However, she had been unconscious since before they put him in because they had drugged her to induce sleep so they could study her dreams. Whenever she woke up from her little nap, The Doctor had full intentions of asking her to get the sonic screwdriver out of his front pocket and releasing his wrists. All he had to do was be patient, not sit down, and wait.

888

It was some hours later that Rose started showing signs of wanting to wake up. At first her face squished up in an expression of annoyance then relaxed, then she smiled gently. The Doctor pushed away from his prop against the observation window and hurried over to Rose as she started turning over slowly and starting to stretch her arms out over her head.

When Rose's eyes fluttered open, she yelped when she saw The Doctor looming over her. Her hands instantly flew to her chest, then she seemed to realize she still had on her bikini top. She sat up and looked around the small observation room.

"You haven't gotten us out yet?" Rose asked, rubbing her eyes. "How'd you get in here anyway?"

"They stuck me in here," The Doctor half-lied. "They're wanting to learn how you humans interact with the opposite sex."

"So they're not going to eat us or turn us into slaves of some kind?" Rose asked, slowly climbing to her feet.

"Nope," The Doctor beamed. "They just want to study us."

"Why did they tie your hands behind your back?"

"Threatened them with the sonic screwdriver. So they tied m' hands behind my back and put it in my front pocket just to see what I would do."

"What did you do?" Rose eyes danced with amusement.

The Doctor thought for a moment. Did he really want to go into detail of how the first five minutes of his captivity had consisted of running around in circles in hopes that _maybe_ he could reach his pocket, running into the wall in hopes of dislocating something so he would be able to reach it, and then trying to coax the screwdriver out of his pocket by sliding down the wall? _No_, so he decided to simply say…

"Gave them a laugh." He nodded toward the observation window. He frowned when he realized something… or thought he had. "This room was much bigger a moment ago."

True, the room had been somewhat small to start with, but now it seemed half the size. Before the Doctor could open his mouth to tell Rose to hurry and get the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, the room closed in quickly. There was hardly any room to move, Rose and The Doctor were now firmly pushed against each other. Then a voice came from overhead.

"Books have told us that many humans have a fear of closed in places. We have simulated a small closet of sorts to see how the human responds."

The Doctor could easily feel how Rose was responding… Her heart was beating rapidly against his chest, her breathing was beginning to take on the typical panicked rate. The Doctor looked down into Rose's brown eyes, almost the moment their eyes met, he felt her calm down.

"Rose," The Doctor said calmly. "Just keep your eyes on mine, don't look around at all. Just do what I tell you to do."

Rose nodded mutely, not taking her eyes away from his.

"They put the sonic screwdriver in my left pocket," The Doctor said soothingly. "See if you can reach in and get it out." At first Rose reached into the wrong pocket and made a grab at something else, The Doctor's eyes had widened. "_That_ is not the sonic screwdriver, Rose."

Rose's face flushed a deep red and she snatched her hand out of his pocket. "I'm guessing you meant to _your_ left then?" she asked quietly, a small smile playing on the corner of her lips. The Doctor managed a stiff nod. "You should have said that to begin with and then I wouldn't have been coping a feel."

"You humans and your details. The lot of you could really do without them you know," The Doctor teased. "Get the screwdriver already."

Rose reached into his other pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. "Do you have a teleport setting?" she asked.

"No, but I should really put one on there shouldn't I?" The Doctor thought for a moment. "Setting 138C. It unlocks an and all types of metal based handcuffs."

"What's A and B then? Plastic and rock?" Rose joked, trying to get the screwdriver to where she could see the settings as she flipped through them.

"Plastic and energy beam cuffs actually," The Doctor replied. "Rock based handcuffs are 138D."

"Ah, 138C, got it," Rose beamed proudly.

The Doctor shifted a bit uncomfortably when Rose reached around him. In such close quarters, the motion had brought her mouth against a sensitive spot at the base of his neck. It was the last thing he really needed in a situation in which she already had certain soft things pressed tightly against him. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on other things instead. He could hear the screwdriver buzzing, then he heard Rose swear.

"Not working," she said. "Are you sure they're metal based?"

"Try setting A," the Doctor grumbled.

He felt Rose shift again, he opened his eyes to watch her change the setting. She grinned up at him as she reached back around him. "I think I kinda like how, for once, I'm saving you instead of the other way around."

"You're constantly saving me," The Doctor defended.

"Oh yeah?" Rose asked as the buzzing of the screwdriver filled the air again.

"Yeah… Loads of times."

"Other than the Nestine Consciousness, name once," Rose smirked. She rolled her eyes and sighed with annoyance. "Not working."

"Try setting D then," The Doctor said briskly.

Rose thudded her head against the wall behind her as she gave an annoyed half-scream, adjusting the setting once again. "Come on, name some other times I've saved your life Doctor," Rose insisted, once again trying the cuffs.

The Doctor was silent, trying to think of one occurrence in which Rose had saved his life. He drew a blank. "Well, okay, if I wasn't in the middle of an escape and had other things on my mind… I'm sure I'd be able to think of at least once," he said indignantly.

"Still not working," Rose announced, a little more than annoyed.

"Go through every last setting until you find the right one then," The Doctor growled, also becoming very annoyed with the bindings on his wrists.

888

It turned out, 128P was the one to free the Doctor from his confines. In that instance, Rose had no idea how happy he was that he had finally added the poly-carbonate, silicon based handcuffs setting in a fit of boredom the week before. Within an hour of breaking free, Rose and the Doctor had reduced the scientists to whimpering little babies -- in spite of the fact they were actually rather huge, menacing, scaly creatures that upon first look would scare the pants off of the bravest of humans (and secretly Time Lords too).

The scientists agreed after very little threatening from The Doctor to put all the humans back to their swimming and sunning. And after numerous apologies, they also promised to ask for permission before scooping up test subjects. Almost everyone had been returned to the beach practically unscathed -- except for Jack who somehow ended up naked but luckily one of the women that had been close by remedied the situation by letting him have a towel.

"I don't even know how," Jack was explaining as the three of them walked back to the TARDIS. "It's almost like anytime I get into a real, life threatening situation… I end up naked."

"Thanks for the warning," The Doctor quipped, unlocking the TARDIS door. He still didn't want to like Jack though it was becoming increasingly hard not to.

The three of them shared a laugh as they walked back into the familiarity of the console room. Rose plopped into the console seat with a heavy sigh. She pursed her lips in annoyance. "Well, I lost all the things I took to the beach with me," she said glumly. "How's 'bout I pick the destination this time. Odds are, _I'll_ be able to pick a place that doesn't have the risk of alien scientists capturing us for experiments. We still have yet to have a decent vacation."

The Doctor approached the controls and grinned at Rose from across the console. "Where to then Rose Tyler?"

Rose looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment before beaming at him. "Key West. In the year… iunno… 1403?"

"1513... You'll get to see the Caloosa Indians and Ponce de Leon--" The Doctor paused when he noticed Rose's raised eyebrow. "Right then, 1403 it is."

Jack looked between The Doctor and Rose. He gave a slightly uncomfortable chuckle. "I'll just… go get some clothes on," he said lightly, then retreated into the corridor.

"What about you Rose?" The Doctor asked, eyeing Rose's suit a little bit longer than he thought he should. "You going to get clothes on?"

Rose wrinkled her nose slightly and shook her head. "Nah, not getting out of this thing until I've had some quality vacation time. Should give you some incentive to take us some place lacking danger for once."

The Doctor only had one word for the moment Rose sat back primly in the console seat with her legs chastely crossed and an expression of stubbornness that dared him to tell her to otherwise. Even when the word slipped from his lips he wasn't entirely sure if it was intended to be truthful or sarcastic… He simply scoffed a half-laugh and said, "Fantastic."


	6. Part Six: Possession

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…  
Story Title: Possession  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: R  
Summary: She was his, his alone… They just didn't know it yet.  
AN: In actuality, this was the first part I wrote for this series and the others grew up around it. Inspired by The Doctor's "didn't just wake up with a craving" line in Empty Child. This fic also contains sexual content… If this offends you, please don't read. Thankies, have a nice day.

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

* * *

Part Six - Possession

* * *

The Doctor closed his eyes and let the hot water stream over his head. He hated how groggy he felt after waking up, as if his body was torn between having too much sleep and not quite enough. Most Time Lords only required two hours at the most every once in a while. However, the Doctor had lain down for the second three hour sleep in two weeks. 

Then again, the dreams he had been having during that all-too-short three hour period may have been the cause. That could have been the cause of his grogginess, given all he mostly did was toss and turn, pull covers around himself because he was cold then kick them back off because he was too hot… All in a restless cycle.

Only now, the lack of sleep had nothing to do with nightmares of the Time War. Lately, his dreams seemed to be revolving around images of himself and Rose in some fantastic situations. Sometimes his mind would take situations they had already been in and go off into a completely different direction than things actually went.

For example, their most recent brush with danger -- with the scientists -- The Doctor's mind had modified the moment in his dreams so that instead of the flimsy little bikini and clothes between them, there hadn't been anything. He had woken up from that very realistic feeling dream, still able to feel the warmth of Rose all around him.

Of course, he had gone to make sure Rose was still sleeping peacefully afterwards. He had sat on the floor beside her bed for several minutes, watching the twitch of a smile at the corner of her lips in her sleep. She had been laying on her stomach, in just her knickers and a long shirt, curled up around a long body pillow. Having long kicked off her blankets, The Doctor got to appraise the long limbs that were hooked around the pillow.

The Doctor's ears had perked when she shifted slightly, giving a soft moan in her sleep. There was only a slight hint of what the she was dreaming about in the air of the room -- human hormones being the little tricksters they were had tickled at The Doctor's keen sense of smell. He had continued watching her as she continued to shift and moan., in spite of the tingling he was beginning to feel in his groin.

He could only imagine what her little human mind was making Jack, or worse Mickey, do to her in her dream. Whatever it was, it must have been good because a wide smile went to Rose's lips just before she nuzzled her face into her pillow. She sighed softly and rested her cheek against her pillow.

The Doctor liked to think he was always prepared for anything. Even though the brush with the scientists had proven him wrong on that concept, he still liked to think he could anticipate what would be happening next. But, once again, he had greatly misjudged his ability to be prepared when Rose smiled in her sleep again and whispered, "That was wonderful Doctor…" before slipping back into deep sleep.

He had felt both of his hearts come to a screeching halt as his name slipped between her lips. He sat there blindly gazing at Rose's sleeping form. After what seemed hours, but was only a few seconds, The Doctor carefully stood up and slipped back into the corridor.

When he managed to get his hearts beating again, he had at first gone to his room in hopes of being able to shake off the tired feeling that had over taken him out of nowhere. He had managed to get a good three hours in, which was more than he had expected given he had done the same only three days earlier. So, he had retreated to the shower in hopes that it would help to do away with the ever-present groggy feeling.

Hearing Rose say his name in her sleep had not helped matters either. It had only served to make his own dreams, if that was even possible, all the more detailed.

The Doctor let the water run over his face as he rubbed his eyes again. _Rose, beautiful and innocent Rose…_ Though part of him doubted Rose's sexual purity, there was always an air of naivety around her like a nice little bubble, keeping her safe from the horrors of time and space. Not to mention she seemed to trust him endlessly.

It made the Doctor feel like such a bastard for lusting after her. Even though he had seen the same thing reflected in Rose's eyes, felt it in the few kisses they had shared, he felt that it wasn't his place to give her any reason to act on those feelings. He wanted her but he wanted to retain that purity. But, he also didn't want anyone else threatening that innocence he liked about her. He definitely didn't want the savvy Captain Jack Harness to ruin her.

But, it wasn't as if he could take a pen and write "This Rose Tyler belongs to The Doctor aka The Oncoming Storm aka Theta Sigma aka The Last Time Lord aka Sole Survivor of the Last Great Time War, do not touch or I will kill you slowly and painfully -- See all assumed titles to be assured of that fact" all over her. Besides, not only would it raise questions but it would make Rose look silly.

All he could do was try to make sure Jack and any other of Rose's pretty boys knew who she belonged to with a threatening stare. So far it had worked. Adam had instantly known to keep his distance, given all the Doctor had done for several hours after the disturbed kiss was imagine the act of drowning Adam in the bath -- some part of him liked to think the TARDIS had let at least Adam know what would happen. If Mickey didn't know by now, the Doctor thought, then the lad truly was an idiot. The Doctor had thought Jack knew the moment he stepped onto the TARDIS… but things between Jack and Rose were so confusing -- one moment they would be giggling with each other like little school girls talking about a cute professor, the next they were obviously flirting. When that happened the Doctor just gave Jack a threatening stare when he thought Jack was going too far.

The Doctor sighed heavily and looked around in the shower stall for his soap. There were countless bottles of shampoos, conditioners, and body washes perched vicariously on the edges of the tub and the little shelves… but not his little bar of soap. _Honestly, humans and their bad habits_, the Doctor thought ruefully, knowing exactly why his soap had gone missing. Rose had taken to throwing his little bars out because they became all "icky" sitting on the edge of the bath -- her words, not his. And that was only if Jack didn't use the rest of the little soap bar up with his five-hour showers.

With another heavy sigh, The Doctor searched through the various bottles until he found four labeled as being bath washes. The first one smelt slightly of wet dog and something muskier. The Doctor came to the conclusion it was one of Jack's and put it back in it's place. The second had a strong flowery smell that nearly over-powered the Doctor's sense of smell. After putting it back where it belonged, the Doctor picked up the third bottle and sampled it's smell tentatively.

This one was only faintly flowery with a hint of muskiness intermingled with the stronger lavender and vanilla scents. The scent was almost intoxicating. The Doctor tried to place where he had cause traces of the scent before. He half smiled when he remembered it had been when Rose had been fresh from the shower, it had been mixed with the smell of her fragrant lilac shampoo in her still-wet hair.

He didn't see a big problem with immersing himself in that scent. It was feminine, yes, but masculine enough that he could pull it off. Not to mention it smelt loads better than Jack's wet dog bath wash. He picked up his wash cloth and lathered it up with the fragrant soap and set to scrubbing himself.

He had barely started washing off his face when he felt the tingling in his groin again. His mind began drifting away from the shower, going down the corridors to Rose's room. He rinsed the soap off his face and stepped back so he could -- due to the distraction of his mind wandering-- slowly start washing his arms and chest.

_Stay out of there_, he told his mind when it came up on Rose's sleeping form. His mind didn't listen, it just slipped right into Rose's thoughts to find out what she was dreaming. It was definitely not a good situation… Him standing naked in the shower, surrounded by the scent of Rose's bath wash. His breath caught in his throat as his mind found the dream in question.

Him and Rose were stripped bare to the waist, Rose was lifted up to sit on the console as he sucked deeply on one of her nipples and his hands explored the other regions of Rose's exposed flesh. Dream!Doctor lifted Rose's back side up off the console just enough to push her little shorts and knickers down. He gingerly set her down, hesitantly releasing her nipple from his teeth as he stepped back. As soon as he had yanked the shorts and knickers off of Rose's ankles and tossed them off somewhere, he was right back between her now naked thighs and kissing her along the side of her neck.

The Doctor was vaguely aware of his wash cloth slipping out of his hand and landing on the floor of the bath with a splatter. He tried desperately to pull his mind out of Rose's dream, but it didn't seem to want to go. Dream!Doctor now had Rose's mouth caught in his, ravishing it as he fought to unfasten his jeans one-handedly.

With desperation the Doctor _forced_ his mind out of Rose's, before it caused him to go crazy. The force in which he did it, caused his own head to reel and he weaved unsteadily on his feet before grabbing the small rail on the side of the stall to right himself. Once his head stopped reeling, The Doctor quickly rinsed himself off and turned off the shower.

He hurriedly wrapped a towel around his waist and stormed down the corridor. He was intent on letting Rose know that she had no sort of business having such dreams about him. Even while stomping down the corridor, he knew the scolding would be uncalled for -- it wasn't as if she could control her dreams. But, if she was dreaming of him, did it not on some level mean it was what she wanted?

Rose was coming out of her room as he rounded the corner. She had a displeased and pained expression on her face, rubbing her forehead.

"Doctor, I was just asleep and I woke up when I felt this horrible pain in my---"

Any resolve or rationale the Doctor had fooled himself into believing he had, melted away as soon as he had reached Rose. Without a word of warning, he hoisted her off of her feet and planted his mouth firmly against hers as he thrust her against her door. Rose only objected for a split second before submitting to the Doctor's punishing lips.

What he was punishing her for exactly, he wasn't completely sure. Perhaps it was for making him forget that he wanted to keep her on the pedestal he had put her up on for safe keeping. Perhaps it was because she never made sure she belonged to him alone before chatting things up with the likes of Mickey, Adam, Jack, or that bastard Jimmy Stone she spoke of on rare occasions. As irrational as the thought was, the Doctor felt Rose should have known that none of them should have been allowed to touch her or look at her with anything other than friendship. She should have known she was for him only…

8888888888888888888888888888888888888

Rose gasped deeply for breath when The Doctor's mouth tore away from hers. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control, especially when he instantly moved his hungry mouth to her neck. There was too much urgency in his mouth and movements, she couldn't keep up, so she just enjoyed the feelings he was making crash through her body in waves.

She shivered from the water that had soaked through her thin t-shirt and cooled off. She shivered from all the tingling coursing through her body caused by the Doctor's mouth on her neck and his hands that had slipped up the back of her shirt. Of the other times the Doctor and her had shared a kiss, this was by far the best.

There was no hesitation, only a burning need flowing off of his skin and onto hers.

Rose moaned softly when the Doctor thrust his hips between her thighs. When he did it again, she moaned his name. He decided to pay attention to the other side of her neck. He bit down hard on the tender flesh, making Rose cry out. Rose was still unable to keep up with the Doctor's frenzied movements, try as she might. Something in the back of her mind told her that he didn't want her to keep up… He wanted her to melt into him, he wanted her to surrender to everything and let him claim her -- mark her so that everyone in the universe would know that she was his.

His mouth abandoned her neck abruptly and Rose could have sworn she heard him give a dangerous, animalistic growl.

"Sorry, didn't know this end of the corridor was being used," a familiar voice said.

Rose looked sharply to see Jack propped against a corner, an amused smirk on his lips. Jack pushed off the wall and walked toward them, Rose cast a glance at the Doctor. The Doctor's gaze was dark and fierce as he watched Jack approach then pass.

Jack patted the Doctor on his shoulder as he passed. "Might want to be careful doing that though, Doctor. If it's not done right you can pull some very discomforting muscles."

Rose felt her feet being lowered slowly to the floor again, but she held on tightly to the Doctor's arms. She watched his face as he watched Jack wander off down the corridor, whistling a cheerful tune.

If looks had the capability of killing… Jack would have never existed.

Rose tried to catch her breath but lost it again when the Doctor jerked his intense gaze back to her. Something flickered in the depths of his eyes, making Rose worry that he was going to just walk away and leave her leaned against her doorway. Which if he did that, Rose knew she would end up exploding into a billion little pieces out of frustration.

The Doctor kept his eyes locked on hers as he slid a hand around her waist and pushed the bedroom door open. "In." He had said it so quickly and so quietly, Rose wondered if he had said it verbally or somehow managed to shove his thoughts directly into her mind. Before Rose could move her feet the Doctor was already advancing on her, his hands at her hips beneath her thin cotton shirt, forcing her to move her feet in rapid back steps so that he wouldn't trample her.

She stumbled slightly and felt something tug at her foot. Rose paid it no mind because the Doctor had yanked her against him to keep her from falling.

"I shouldn't be doing this," the Doctor murmured just before lifting her shirt off and throwing it to the side.

"Yes you should," Rose managed in a breathless whisper.

"No," the Doctor said quietly. "I shouldn't…"

His mouth met hers again, his strong hands slowly caressed her naked skin as if he was trying to give her a small chance to pull away if it was too much for her. If anything, Rose thought, it _was_ too much… But it was too much in a good way.

"Stop me Rose," the Doctor commanded when he stopped for breath.

It was a rather weak and ineffective command, so Rose had no choice but to ignore it. "No."

"On your head then," he murmured.

The aggressiveness returned. His mouth was sucking the air from Rose's lungs, or did it just seemed that way? His fingers dug into the flesh of her backside and hoisted her up to sitting on the edge of her bed. Rose found the knot where the Doctor had tucked his towel closed and pulled it free. The moment naked skin met naked skin, Rose couldn't help but wonder… when the hell did she loose her knickers?

The Doctor pulled his head back in surprise. "What?" he asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"Didn't say nuthin'," Rose replied airily.

"Are you sure about this Rose? Because I can't have you worryin' over your knickers when I'm in the middle of seducing you."

Rose felt herself blush. "I wasn't worryin' about them."

"Oh," the Doctor said quietly. "But are you sure this is what you want?"

"Doctor," Rose gulped heavily. "I'm yours to do with as you please. Whatever it is, I want it."

"You may want to be careful how you say that," the Doctor whispered, leaning his lips in close to hers again. "I've got a vivid imagination."

There were no more words, except for soft pants of breath between the two mouths as they met once more. Rose could feel her heart beating rapidly against her chest as the Doctor guided her legs around his hips. Her hands slid to his chest where she could feel both of his hearts were beating so rapidly that it felt like his chest was about to explode.

Rose gasped sharply as the Doctor tore his mouth away again. His grasped her hips and lifted her slightly.

"Say it again Rose."

"Say what?" Rose sighed, feeling him perched at her entry. "That you can do what you want with me?"

"No, the other part," the Doctor replied hastily. "That you're _mine_."

"I'm yours…" She could sense he wanted her to say something else… "Only yours," she added.

This seemed to please the Time Lord because he held her firmly in place and --- well she couldn't call it "entering"… it was more like he invaded her body. She felt senses she had never had before burst to life, every little nerve ending was ablaze with sensations. Her fingers tangled themselves in the sheets beneath her head and she arched hips to meet the Doctor's slow languid movements as he tested the limitations of her fragile human body.

Or, at least, that's what Rose supposed he was doing. That, at least, was what the small voice in the back of her mind was saying. She wasn't going to complain by any means. Because each time he pushed deeper, Rose felt a little bit more of her insides beginning to submit to the sensations that were spreading from her pelvis, slinking toward her toes and head. If she could ever put any sort of human words to it, she would say it felt like warm honey was spreading through her body.

The Doctor grazed an extra sensitive spot deep inside, causing Rose to gasp sharply. It felt like it made her entire body contract. It made her want him even more… she wanted him deeper, faster, and harder. She wanted him to make her scream out in so much pleasure that the inhabitants of some distant planet could hear her..

To her surprise, without uttering the first word, The Doctor began to comply. He had paused only for a moment to look at her before leaning down and capturing her mouth hungrily. His fingers dug into the flesh of her hips he his rapid thrusts claimed her -- marked her ways his mouth would only dream of claiming her. The thought of his mouth even attempting such a feat made her muscles clench around him again, drawing a low moan from his mouth mid-kiss.

"Oh Rose…" The Doctor's voice sounded like it was little more than a helpless whimper.

The honey-like warmth had finally reached the tips of her toes and fingertips, they tingled with delight. The tingling sensations then began the journey back to her centre, going much quicker than the honey-warmth had moved. It shot through her veins like electricity.

_If only he could…_

Rose had barely begun the thought when the Doctor pushed in his full length, successfully reaching a place deep inside of her that had been begging to be reached. Her hips bucked up against him and a soft scream escaped between her lips. She gripped the sheets close to her head and whimpered as the Doctor withdrew in a treacherously slow movement.

"Doctor," she whimpered. She hooked her heels on the back of his thighs and tried her damnedest to pull his hips back toward her. The Doctor swiftly thrust to his full length again, this time Rose cried out his name in a shrill little voice.

"You like that then?" The Doctor whispered when he leaned his lips close to her ear.

"Oh, God yes," Rose choked, clamping her fingernails into his shoulders. "Do it again… and again… and… and…"

The Doctor cut her off with a light kiss. "Only if you promise that you're mine."

"I am, now, please. Doctor, please… I _am_ yours. All yours, no one else's… please oh please Doctor… Please?"

After that, the only things Rose was aware of was the feeling of the Doctor rapidly thrusting as deep inside of her as he could and the resulting waves of pleasure each time he reached that one spot that was begging for the attention. That, and the fact that when he came, he cried out "Fantastic."


	7. Part Seven: Little Reminders

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…  
Story Title: Little Reminders  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: "Humans and their fixation with post-it notes. You'd think they had nothing better to do with their time to go about marking their territory with little yellow pieces of paper." Rose raised an eyebrow and gave a half smile, her tongue peeping out from the corner of her lips as she plucked one of his own post-it's off the screen. . "Time Lords aren't much better about it, apparently." She waved the post-it in his face tauntingly.  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

* * *

Part Seven - Little Reminders

* * *

He had told her to be forward and blunt with him, should she ever need to be reminded who she belonged to. He just never took into account she had a bad memory, or rather, that she would pretend to have such a bad memory. For crying out loud, though, Rose usually needed to be "reminded" three and sometimes four times a day.

And even for a Time Lord, who prided themselves on being able to adjust their bio-chemistry so they would never tire out, that was pushing his limitations. Lucky for him though, Rose had wandered off with Jack not too long ago so he was able to sit and enjoy a cup of tea without being harassed.

Jack, the Doctor mused, had actually become a lot less annoying in the recent weeks. And that wasn't only because the lad seized every opportunity to suck up to the Doctor, but because it turned out he was rather useful at helping with repairs on the old ship. So, the Doctor had surrendered and let Jack become one of the team…

Even though Jack spared no moment some mornings on pointing out that the Doctor had left Rose's bedroom door open, therefore keeping the poor lad awake half the night because of her screaming. If he hadn't said it with a cheeky grin, the Doctor may have been inclined to believe him. But, as it were, the Doctor had his own ideas about how Jack knew if the door was open or not. Then there was the occasional teasing comments to Rose about what had her walking funny on some days.

"Doctor. I have a question." Rose flounced into the kitchen, pulling the Doctor away from his speculations. She was armed with a pen and a pad of post-it notes.

"Hopefully, I have an answer," the Doctor replied with a slight smile, putting his cup of tea down. She was using her perky little, child-like 'Rose seeking wisdom' tone as opposed to the sultry 'Rose about to pounce' tone he had become accustomed to hearing as of late. "What do you need?"

Rose scurried over to the table, throwing herself into a seat while simultaneously dragging it over next to the Doctor. She put on her most innocent gaze as she looked up at him and nibbled on her jumper sleeve in mock nervousness. "I just want to know how to write a few things in your language… In Gallifreyan." Her smiled faded shortly after he gave her a perplexed expression. "But, if you can't… or aren't allowed… I…"

"I don't mind," the Doctor interrupted. "Just sort of caught me by surprise. Besides, who would stop me if I wasn't allowed? What do you want to know how to write?"

"My name," Rose grinned, scooting her chair a little closer. She plopped her pen and post-it pad in front of him on the table.

"There's lots of ways you could write your name Rose," the Doctor pointed out, beginning to make a pattern of interlocking circles within one larger circle on the little post-it pad. "For example, this is, 'My name is Rose Tyler'." He removed the little piece of paper and stuck it on the front of Rose's jumper. He paused slightly when he noticed the green jumper, a very familiar green jumper that he had been trying to find for two days. "Did you steal my jumper again?"

"You left it in my floor and I was cold," Rose replied, putting her nose in the air with mock arrogance. "Technically that's not stealing." She cast her eyes at the post-it pad then looked back up to the Doctor. "So this really says 'my name is Rose Tyler'?"

"Why wouldn't it?" the Doctor asked. He gave a slight inward laugh as he took the little piece of paper and stuck it to Rose's forehead. "That's how I used to do it."

Rose's eyes crossed as she attempted to look at the bright yellow piece of paper. "You used to go about with a post it on your forehead that said 'My name is Rose Tyler'?"

"It had _my_ name on it," the Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes. "Well, since it was before I started going by 'The Doctor', it had my academy name on it. The lads all thought it was a laugh, couldn't have been no older than a hundred and fifty. It annoyed the Council to no end when they came to visit… seeing the _de rigueur _member of the Lungburrow, Oldblood house with a post-it on his forehead that proclaimed 'Hello! My name is Theta Sigma!' only served to remind them _why_ it wasn't such a favoured house. After about the fourth time, the professors and all did their best to hide me when Council came through."

"If they didn't like your family…" Rose said quietly. "Why did they let you become a Time Lord?"

The Doctor put his attention back on the little post-it pad and began to drawing another set of intricate circles, lines, and boxes within another larger circle. "My entire family was oddballs of Gallifreyan society. We were very unconventional, but we were geniuses… Even by Gallifreyan standards. So naturally, they just had to put up with us."

A strange look crossed Rose's features. She cocked her head to the side slightly. "Was that your name?" Rose asked. The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Theta?" Rose said slowly. "Theta Sigma was your name?"

"Sort of, yeah," the Doctor shrugged. "As I said, it was an academy name. They gave it to me as a bit of a nickname." He grinned and pulled off the little paper he had been drawing on. "This one is the equivalent to saying 'This belongs to Rose Tyler'."

Rose took the note with a bright smile. "Thanks! Could you do this one with Jack's name instead of mine?"

"So that's what brought this on? You and Jack going about labelling stuff?"

Rose smiled cheekily and tugged on her ear. "Sort of, yeah. I also need one that says 'here' as in…" she patted the table. "Right here."

The Doctor gave a mock snort. "Oh that one is easy." He made a few seemingly random circle and triangle marks on the post-it and handed the pad over to Rose. "Have fun labelling things with Jack."

Rose grinned widely and hopped out of her seat. "We will."

The Doctor watched Rose over-emphasize the swing of her hips as she walked toward the kitchen door. The bottom of the jumper had ridden up so it was framing her just right to show off her backside. "Oy, Rose." Rose stopped and turned toward him. "Make sure your remember who that jumper belongs to later on will ya?"

A slow smile crept to Rose's lips until he could she her tongue perched on the edge of front teeth. She raised her eyebrows curiously. "I'm sure you could think of some inventive ways to _get it off _later," she said with an edge of suggestion in her tone. Without another word, she flounced out of the kitchen and disappeared.

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. The only thing worse than Rose's little comment was that, as the Doctor went back to drinking his tea, he was actually thinking of the different ways he could steal his jumper back in a few hours.

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The Doctor slowly walked down the corridor. He was seriously beginning to see a pattern of post-it notes along the way. He wasn't sure which one had pointed out the tread first -- the one on both her bedroom and the primary bathroom doors or the ones scattered about Rose's room.

Her little dresser had bright yellow post-it's on either corner that read "_Here"_ in Gallifreyan -- Given, if he hadn't been the one to actually show her how to write it, he would have been like any other Gallifreyan and mistaken the shaky drawings as saying something completely different. He made a mental note to inform Rose that Gallifreyan text relied heavily on precision.

There were also little notes on her bed, the front of the wardrobe, on the floor, and at random spots on the wall. Yes, there was definitely a trend with the post it placement… Other than that with each one, the drawings tended to become a little more precise. What he didn't understand was how she remembered the exact places…

When he walked out of Rose's bedroom and touched one of the corridor walls, the TARDIS hummed pleasantly. She was preening. And there was only one reason his ship would be proud of herself. She had been helping Rose in her mission to post-it every spot they had thus far gone at it.

"Well, I'm glad you're amused," he muttered into the air. "What if I actually _need_ some of my post-it's?"

He passed about four more on his way to the console room. He paused slightly at the doorway.

Jack had a piece of the grating in his hands and looking down into one of the many spots the Doctor used to access the lower regions of the console. "I don't remember that one," Jack commented. Rose made some kind of comment the Doctor couldn't hear clearly. "No, seriously Rose, I think I would remember walking in on that unexpectedly."

Rose's head popped up out of the lower regions. She grinned widely. "Remember when we had to stop for a few days on that one planet for repairs? The Doctor had to end up rescuing you because the mayor of New Vegas was trying to buy you so her daughter could have a husband?" She crawled out from under the console and Jack put the grating back in its place.

"Console wasn't the only thing that got serviced I take it?" Jack asked. "no wonder I don't remember. I wasn't here."

Rose didn't answer, just smiled smugly. She plopped down on the console bench and began drawing on what was left of her post-it pad. Jack was peeping over her shoulder, watching her carefully copy the other little note stuck to her finger.

"How's he get it to look so pretty?" Rose sighed. "When I do it, it looks like a three year old trying to write their name."

"It's not that bad," Jack assured, putting his hand on her shoulder. "That's supposed to be a triangle Rose, not a circle."

The Doctor strolled casually into the console room. There were several little yellow notes all over the room, more so than in any other place with good reason… it was their favourite place. "Nine hundred years of practice," the Doctor answered. He cast a glance at Jack.

Jack took the hint and gave Rose a slight squeeze of the shoulders. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can find something interesting to do for a little while." At Rose questioning look, Jack nodded toward the Doctor. "Maybe I'll see if I can perfect writing my name in Gallifreyan." He took a post it off the console bench. "See ya."

The Doctor would have to later commend Jack on his ability to know when to leave a room.

Rose grinned widely. "You gave him the look didn't you?" she teased. "You gave him the --- oh what does he call it -- the 'get out before I ravish Rose' look?" She slipped off the bench and put the post it she had just been working with on the spot where she had just been sitting.

"You humans are by far the most amusing life forms I have ever come across," the Doctor commented studying all the little yellow papers scattered across his console. He picked up one of the sphere's off the console. Taking the little sticky note off of it, he looked across the console at Rose. "_This_ is not yours. This is a key part in the setting of the TARDIS coordinates."

Rose gave an overly dramatic sigh and walked over to take the post-it from the Doctor. "Well, it was worth a try wasn't it?" She pursed her lips and then stuck the note to his forehead.

The Doctor snorted and took the post it off his forehead. "Humans and their fixation with post-it notes. You'd think they had nothing better to do with their time to go about marking their territory with little yellow pieces of paper."

Rose raised an eyebrow and gave a half smile, her tongue peeping out from the corner of her lips as she plucked one of his own post-it's off the screen. . "Time Lords aren't much better about it, apparently." She waved the post-it in his face tauntingly. "From the looks of it, it says 'This belongs to the Doctor'. Or, I guess it does," she looked at the collection of shapes on the little note. "It has a lot of the same symbols."

The Doctor took the note from her and replaced it on the edge of the screen. "Actually, it's directions. A map. It actually serves a purpose."

"Oh," Rose mouthed. "I would ask what 'This belongs to the Doctor' looks like in your language but… I just used the last of the post-it notes."

The Doctor just smiled and carefully took the pen from Rose. "Who says I need paper when I have you to write on?"

"Sounds a bit kinky if you ask me," Rose chuckled. "Though that's not something I need much of right now." When the Doctor looked at her questioningly she blushed. "Periodic human female biological _stuff_."

For a moment, the Doctor looked as if Rose had said something completely foreign to him. The next moment a look of realization crossed his features. "That just means I can't get you out of your knickers, everything else is free territory."

Rose yelped when he promptly pulled his jumper up and off over her head. Before she could even think to turn and run, the Doctor caught her about her waist, pinning her back against his chest. He lifted her feet off the ground and turned so he could pin her pelvis against the console with his hips. Rose grabbed at the console to try and steady herself.

"Hey!" Rose laughed, kicking her feet against nothing but air.

The Doctor clicked the pen and placed a firm hand between Rose's shoulders to keep her chest flush with the console. "Why does this seem so very familiar?"

"Yesterday," Rose hummed as she stopped kicking her feet.

"Oh," the Doctor said in a hushed tone. "No matter, be still."

Rose gave a high pitched squeal mixed with laughter as he nudged one of her bra straps off her shoulder. The Doctor attacked her shoulder with the pen. It took him the better part of two minutes to finish, but when he was, it looked more like he had written a very elaborate mathematics or chemistry equation enclosed by several interlocking circles. By time he had finished, Rose had practically fallen asleep. She weaved on her feet unsteadily when the Doctor allowed her to slide them back to the grating.

"That was relaxing," Rose said lazily, turning to face him. "I could go take a nap right now."

"Hold on," the Doctor said quietly. He gingerly leaned her back against the console and carefully put the same design on Rose's chest, just above the swell of her breasts. When he was done, he smiled, very pleased with himself. "Now, go get dressed, we'll go to Cardiff and put the TARDIS down on the rift so she can charge up."

Rose was busy trying to see what it was the Doctor had written on her chest. "What's it say?"

"I'll tell you later," the Doctor grinned. "Go on now, get some clothes on. Call Mickey, if you must. Get him to meet us there so you can brag about seeing time and space while he sat about eating beans and toast. Find out what day it is and tell him we'll be there in a week."

Rose made to reach for the discarded jumper, but the Doctor pulled her back again. "Doctor, can't I just have the jumper long enough to run along to my room?"

"Nope. It stays. I want to make sure that it doesn't end up disappearing like my red jumper did."

"But… Jack's wandering…"

"No," the Doctor said a little more firmly. "Jack would tease about you walking through the corridor without a shirt on but wouldn't do anything out of the way." Rose gave him a cute little pout, the Doctor pointed toward the door leading to the corridor. "When I get my red one, I'll _think_ about it." He snatched his green jumper up off the grating and tucked it safely under his arm as he watched Rose sigh regretfully and retreat down the corridor, putting her bra strap back in place.


	8. Part Eight: The End of the Beginning

Title: The End of the Beginning  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: 16+  
Summary: The Doctor, Rose, and Jack take a trip to Kyoto.  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

* * *

Part Eight - The End of the Beginning

* * *

Rose was trying to catch a good glimpse of the purple markings between her shoulder blades while holding her somewhat damp hair out of the way. It wasn't working out wonderfully at first, but then Rose found her compact mirror and could manage a glimpse if she positioned herself and the compact right. "The human blind spot" the Doctor had called it. Rose thought he had just been joking but she literally was unable to get a good look at it. As it was now she could only look at half of it at a time.

Maybe if she had more mirrors…

About four hours earlier the Doctor had shown up in her room, proudly showing off a marker he had happened to borrow from Jack. Rose wasn't completely sure about the logistics of this new device -- and he had assured her it was indeed a _device_ and not a mere object. The only thing he had told her is that a tiny planet in the year 6428 used it to label things and that it would make the symbols he had taken to drawing on her lately stay a lot longer than just the regular pen ink.

And when Rose thought "symbols" she meant the small pattern of what looked like intricately drawing mathematical designs that the Doctor identified as Gallifreyan… all enclose within a larger circle. He still wouldn't tell her what it said, but he promised he would when the latest drawing faded. Though Rose wasn't entirely sure she trusted the smug little smile on his face when he had said so.

Rose jumped at the sound of a knock on the bathroom door. She snatched up her shirt and pulled it over her head quickly. Leaning against the little counter, she lightly called, "What do you want Jack?"

The door opened and Jack peeked in around the door. He gave a disappointed sigh. "Damn, you're decent."

"I guess I'm just getting too good," Rose preened slightly. "What do you need?"

"Doctor wants to know what you're in the mood for." Jack paused slightly. "And he meant to eat." Another slight pause when Rose's grin broadened. "For dinner."

"Oh," Rose sighed heavily. She snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Get my hopes up and crash them down why don't you Jack?"

"Well, the Doctor's very hungry for some reason. Though given the fact about ten minutes ago I could hear a very high pitched 'fantastic' when I passed your door, I think I know why. I suggested sushi, he said to check if you would eat it," Jack explained. "Because I know this great place in 1336 that has some _great_ sushi."

"He doesn't say that _every_ time," Rose sighed. Rose pursed her lips in thought for a moment. "Sushi sounds great." When Jack turned to leave she grabbed his arm. "But when you tell him… make it sound a little perverted. But not so perverted that it sounds like you just made it up that I said it."

"Alright," Jack grinned. "A Rose-sized dose of innuendo for The Doctor. Can do…" Jack promptly darted out of the bathroom.

Rose tidied herself up and pulled her hoodie on to cover her white tank top. After zipping it up modestly, she joined the two men in the console room. The moment she arrived, she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to know what Jack had said to make the Doctor look at her with such wide eyes.

888

Awkward situations called for equally awkward solutions to get them out of it. The awkward situation had started out as a simple question from the Doctor.

"What did Jack mean when he said 'Rose said she'd put anything in her mouth that you wanted her to'?"

"What do you think I meant?" Rose replied, a hint of suggestion in her voice.

There was no wicked grinning from the Doctor, no witty or snaky reply, just a simple, "Ah" followed by a long silence.

Rose wasn't sure how long they had walked in silence, looking at little trinkets shopkeepers had for trade. Anytime Rose took interest in anything, they asked if she would be willing to part with her hoodie or one of her watches or rings.

Then, out of nowhere the Doctor gave Rose a strange look and asked, "What's the deal of it then? Is it supposed to be a big deal or something?"

"Is what supposed to be a big deal?" Rose asked with mild confusion. She grinned widely and surrendered her old pink watch for a soft, deep crimson kimono with a crane delicately embroidered on the back.

The Doctor grabbed the watch before the woman could gleefully take it from Rose's hands. Instead, he offered the woman something from deep in his jacket pocket that was more customary to their time… gold. The woman instantly approved and instructed Rose to pick out two more kimonos.

After Rose had picked out the other purchases, she looked up at the Doctor. "Is what supposed to be a big deal," Rose repeated. "Come on, out with it doctor. You've never dodged questions about anything."

"I'm not dodging," the Doctor said briskly. "I'm just trying to figure out a nice way of asking."

"Since when do you try to find nice ways of asking anything?" A thought suddenly occurred to Rose that there was very few things that even the Doctor skirted the subject of… even fewer things that he tried to be nice about when bringing them up. "Is this about what Jack said before we came here?"

The Doctor caught the attention of a young child and gave them another little piece of gold to run Rose's purchases to the TARDIS, which was sitting neatly out of the city's limits. Hesitantly, the Doctor admitted he really didn't see the whole point of women performing suggestive oral favours on the male anatomy -- Rose had laughed at his terminology.

"Human males are all in love with it," Rose said, laughter still in her voice. "They say it feels all good but… But iunno, I'm not a man so I wouldn't know." She couldn't help but wonder… "Haven't you ever had one then?" she asked in a mocking tone, linking her arm with the Doctor's.

"Nope," the Doctor replied with a smile. "I try not to do something if I don't see a point to it."

In most circumstances, Rose would have not pressed the issue -- after all, it wasn't readily one of her favoured things to do no matter how much her past boyfriends had begged and pleaded for her to do so. But Rose had unceremoniously yanked the Doctor into the next gap that resembled an alleyway.

888

The situation had ended with the Time Lord caught with his pants around his ankles and Rose on her knees in front of him -- though it wasn't his fault, he had told her she didn't need to do such a thing. It hadn't helped that the building they had taken refuge behind had turned out to be a very sacred temple either.

It had been a bloody week, for crying out loud, so no one could really blame the Time Lord for throwing caution to the wind when the opportunity presented itself.

Wasn't like it was the first time the Doctor had damned the consequences and stepped out onto the ledge -- so to speak. Though, generally speaking, when he threw away all caution it didn't entail the intentions of having a quick shag against a building -- and for the record he had _not_ known it was a temple, regardless of the fact the guards insisted they did such out of spite against the gods.

The two of them had bee imprisoned and were awaiting the verdict on another troublesome person before being sent to execution. Which, the Doctor would have been able to get them out of rather quickly, had his hands not been tied behind his back and had Rose not only had her hands tied behind _her _back but also had a gag tied around her mouth to "prevent further offence to the gods"…

"If I had known it was a Buddhist monastery I would have taken you further down the street," the Doctor said irritably. "It wasn't supposed to be dedicated until 1339, Temple of the Heavenly Dragon, imagine that. Last week a play ground for the Emperor, this week a monastery. If we had aimed for two weeks earlier, this may not have happened."

Rose just glared at him and mumbled something from behind her gag. The Doctor sighed and approached her, she kicked at his shin and continued her muffled arguments at him.

"You know, I can't understand you with that thing in your mouth," he pointed out. "Hold still."

He leaned down and carefully caught the silky fabric between his teeth and tugged it away from Rose's mouth until the gag hung loosely around her neck. She pushed a bundle of similar material out of her mouth with her tongue.

"This is all _your_ fault," Rose hissed in a low whisper. "Usually I don't blame you when our lives are in danger, but this time I do. Of all the bloody buildings in Japan… You could have said something, you could have warned me like you usually do!"

"My fault? How was I to know we showed up right after it was dedicated? Besides, I told you not to do it," the Doctor defended. "Though… _that_ was absolutely fantastic. Remind me to do the same for you later, once we get out of all this." Rose gave him a stony glare. The Doctor sighed lightly. "If you had just listened to me, I wouldn't have been making so much noise, the Imperial Guard _wouldn't_ have decided to investigate, and _we_ wouldn't be in this situation right now."

As if sensing the mention of them, a guardsman entered the holding room. "You will come with us quietly," the young man said firmly. He took Rose by the arm and yanked her gag back into place before pulling her toward the door.

"Oi! Be careful with her will ya?" the Doctor barked as another guard came in to escort him out of the room.

When the Doctor caught sight of the third prisoner, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What did they get you for Jack?"

"They thought my camera was a tool of evil," Jack sighed with an edge of regret.

"Your video camera?" the Doctor asked. When Jack nodded, the Doctor smirked knowingly. "Considering the sort I know you record with that thing I can't blame them. It _is_ a tool of _great_ evil."

"Well, you know me," Jack shrugged, chuckling lightly. "Always seizing a chance to get some good blackmail material to sell to Mickey."

"Hey!" Rose yelped over her shoulder, her gag falling down again. "Jack, I thought you said you stopped doing that."

"No…" Jack said carefully. "I said I _would_ stop… just never said when."

Rose snapped her attention back to the span of corridor in front of her, growling out something rude about "stupid men, human and alien" as the guards led the three of them out into the street of Kyoto.

The citizens had gathered to watch the procession and follow it once they had passed them by. Eventually they reached the edge of the city and the guards continued to lead the three travellers down a well-worn path into the surrounding fields toward the river. Once they reached the edge of the river, the guards stopped and turned to address them.

"As punishment for your crimes against the Imperial Order," one of the men said. "You are sentenced to death. The Heavenly Dragon will feast upon your flesh so that you may have the chance to plead for his mercy in your next life."

The Doctor felt Rose lightly step on his foot. When he looked down at her, she nodded toward the guards to their left. It took him a moment to realize what she was trying to tell him. It was the TARDIS, about a mile away on the gently sloping countryside. Which would have been wonderful if the guard had full plans of just leaving them out by the river, wouldn't have taken long to walk to the TARDIS, figure out some way to get free of the blasted rope, and get back into the safety of the TARDIS.

But, if the Doctor had properly figured their metaphorical speech, given the time and place they were… They were to be thrown _into _the river.

What the Doctor had not counted on was the sound of beating wings to begin echoing overhead, followed by a loud roar. A shadow descended over them as an enormous red dragon brought itself down to the ground. It looked exactly like the creatures depicted on the pottery and in pictures around Kyoto.

The guards flinched slightly when the dragon roared again.

"That's a real dragon," Rose said in hushed disbelief. "Doctor… that's a dragon."

"I know," the Doctor whispered in awe. "It's not supposed to be here…"

"We have brought you three which have defiled your Holy Temple," one of the guards yelled.

_Leave me_, a quiet voice hissed from nowhere in particular.

The dragon roared loudly again and the guards staggered back and scrambled for the city. It eyed the three captives with its black beady eyes and then lowered its massive head down to get a better look.

"You are not of this world," the creature whispered, eyeing the Doctor. It glanced between Jack and Rose. "They are of this world but not of this time. Explain it to me, my fellow traveller of stars. Explain yourself and your blue box." It glanced over its shoulder at the TARDIS.

The Doctor noticed the dragon did not move its mouth while speaking… it was a telepathic creature! "Fellow traveller of the stars"… that meant…

"I thought your people died out eons ago," the Doctor said, trying to contain his excitement.

"They have," the dragon said solemnly. "I am the last and have kept to grand tradition of my people. I have come to this beautiful planet to take my final rest. They think to appease me they must feed me their wicked."

"But you're nothing more than their pet," the Doctor argued. "Your people were great and wise. They were fierce warriors but smart beyond any of these little apes' abilities…"

"I do not mind, as long as it helps them to think I am cleansing their world of sin." The dragon shifted slightly and raised its massive front foot. It quickly lashed its foot out and captured a rabbit in its claws, making Rose and Jack jumped back in surprise. "Victory, at last," the dragon cooed pleasantly. "I do enjoy making a snack of these magical creatures that so easily disappear."

"So this is where your people have come to die?" the Doctor asked. "The great and fierce warriors come to this little planet to die?"

"Yes," the dragon replied, dropping the rabbit into its mouth. "The psychic residue from my ancestors said that, on some shores, our people were slain by primitive men dressed in metal. The primitives of this shore worship me and take care of me, so I do not mind living a few more years before I wither away."

"Knights?" Rose asked carefully. She was eyeing the dragon with a mix of fear and awe, bouncing nervously from foot to foot. "Men dressed in metal… that's the knights it'n it Doctor?"

The dragon looked at Rose, tilting its head curiously, she instantly stopped her nervous bouncing. It jerked its head back in apparent surprise. "This one has something of the magic inside of her…" It lowered its head to get a better look at her. "It has nothing to do with the golden light though… That is a wholly different sort of magic. Tell me how you perform this craft little yellow one."

"What craft?" Rose asked hesitantly. "I don't know any sort of magic tricks."

"How can you burn like the sun and not become consumed?" The Dragon asked. "How can you disappear in front of my eyes and then reappear? These are magic's I do not understand but you can perform."

The Doctor took a quick look around. What was Rose doing that had made the dragon think she had disappeared? Whatever it was, it was something the rabbit could do as well… He took note of a few more rabbits close by, scampering about. Then it hit him and he decided to see if the theories in his head were accurate…

He started bouncing slightly. Almost instantly the dragon jerked its attention to him.

"What magic is this?" the dragon demanded as the Doctor stopped his bouncing. "How do you disappear so easily as well?"

The Doctor grinned broadly and looked between Rose and Jack. "Start hopping."

"What?" both of them asked in shock.

"You heard me," the Doctor said, starting to hop in circles around them. "He can't see me! Because I'm _hopping_. His race, once they reach a certain age they develop a blindness that prevents them from seeing certain movements. For some they can't see walking or running… this one can't see hopping!"

Jack wasted no time in beginning to join the Doctor in his hopping. "Can't say I've ever had to hop for my life before."

The dragon growled deeply and glared at Rose. "If you will not tell me how you perform these magic's then I will have to consume you to find out."

Rose yelped and began hopping. "Not if I can help it!"

The dragon gave a frustrated roar. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack were quickly hopping toward the TARDIS in the distance. The creature circled around the in the sky, demanding to know where they had disappeared to and that they reappear. Then, with one final bellow of annoyance, the dragon flew away into the horizon.

The Doctor was the first to collapse against the TARDIS, followed shortly by Jack and then Rose. While his two companions caught their breaths, the Doctor laughed. "That was fun," the Doctor said, still laughing.

The laughter was contagious because as soon as Rose and Jack caught their breaths, they were loosing it again from laughter. The three laughed until they no longer could, which then, the Doctor pushed away from the TARDIS.

"Alright, Rose, get your wicked little mouth over here and get the sonic screwdriver out of my pocket," the Doctor instructed. "Inside coat pocket."

Rose rolled her eyes and smiled. "So helpless, you are." She nudged his jacket open with her nose and carefully plucked the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket with her teeth. When she straightened herself, still clutching the screwdriver in her teeth, she asked, "Now what?"

"Jack, turn around and Rose, put the sonic screwdriver in his hands," the Doctor continued.

Neither argued, just did as they were told. Though Jack spared no time in making a joke about it. The Doctor had Jack click through the settings until he got to the rope cutting setting. Within seconds, Jack was free.

"Now if I had known that this thing would be so handy," Jack said, twirling the screwdriver between his fingers. "I wouldn't have made fun of it. I've got to get me one of these."

"Well, too bad," the Doctor said. "The only way you would get it is to pry it from my cold dead fingers. So trust me when I say, you won't ever have one. Now cut us loose before the dragon comes back."

Jack freed the Doctor and Rose from their rope and returned the sonic screwdriver to its rightful owner. While they waited for the Doctor to get the TARDIS unlocked, Jack gave Rose a nudge.

"Hey Rose," Jack smirked. "In about ten years, we'll be able to look back and laugh and ask each other, 'Do you remember hopping for our lives?'--" He gave the Doctor a hard clap on the back. "That'll be one to tell the grandkids won't it Doctor?"

"I'm sure yours would love hearing about it," the Doctor replied, pushing the TARDIS doors open. He wasn't about to spoil their good mood by informing them that _his_ grandchild had already come and gone years ago.

Unaware of the Doctor's choice of words, Jack continued on enthusiastically with his tale he "would be telling his grandkids" until Rose was roaring with laughter as she gathered the goods that had been delivered to the TARDIS earlier. The Doctor just set their course and put the TARDIS into the vortex.

"You're full of it Jack," Rose giggled. "You'd never tell kids that you were trying to capture sex acts on video."

"Well, not while their young," Jack clarified. "But once they're old enough… They'll be getting all the details. Maybe even some of the footage." Rose slapped Jack on the arm and laughed, but Jack continued, "I'll be telling them, 'This is way back when your Aunt Rose was still in touch with her gymnastics'…"

"Shut up," Rose laughed.

Neither seemed to notice the Doctor's silence during Jack's excited retelling of their most recent adventure. He had busily put himself to work absently turning knobs and trying to stay out of the conversation. He didn't really need to be doing so, but he was willing to look busy for the sake of avoiding an uncomfortable conversation.

The Doctor stopped in the middle of reaching for another switch. Something wasn't right. He could feel the tiniest hairs on the back of his neck beginning to prickle. Rose and Jack's laughter stopped instantly as a white light filled the console room. The Doctor saw Rose reach for him…

And then she was gone.

And so was he.


	9. Part Nine: Transition

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things...

Title: TransitionAuthor: Rambling Rose  
Rating: All Ages  
Summary: Just a mini filler scene between the two halves of the series.  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

* * *

Part 9 - Transition

* * *

Rose clutched the pajamas in her hands tightly as she gazed at the comatose figure on her mum's bed. If it were _him_ he'd want to make some sort of quip of how it was one place he never wanted to end up, even if the whole of existence depended on it. But it wasn't _him _laying in the bed, it was some stranger that somehow knew the things _he_ knew. It was a stranger she had to get out of _his_ clothes and into the pajamas her mum had supplied.

She partially wished Mickey hadn't gone to his place to get his computer. That way, she could have made Mickey do it. But he had left and her mum was out searching for a stethoscope, so that left only Rose to put the strange man into Howard's pajamas.

That's what he was to her. The Stranger. The Stranger that had taken the place of her Doctor.

Taking a deep breath, Rose set her mind to the task at hand. She gave herself the mindset of a nurse that had to change an unconscious patient into a fresh gown. She could do it.

Rose stomped over to the bed purposely and threw the pajamas down on the bedside table. She roughly grabbed the lapel of the old worn leather jacket and tried to pull the limp arm from the sleeve. She yelped and jumped back several paces when the stranger gave a small objecting groan.

"Right then," Rose sighed. "I can understand I was being a little rough but you don't have to go scaring me like that!"

Hesitantly, she approached the bed again. This time she carefully slid a hand behind the man's head and pulled him up off the bed slightly. Rose quickly learned that getting clothes off an unconscious person was much harder than it looked on the telly. She ended up having to straddle the Doctor's legs and hold his head securely against her chest while she used her free hand to work the jacket off his shoulders and down his arms.

Afterwards, Rose let the Doctor fall back against the mattress panting for breath… and all she had managed to get off was the jacket! If it was that exhausting and complicated to get his jacket off, she dreaded the rest. Rose gazed down at the Doctor and instantly realized the inappropriateness of her position straddling him. She quickly scurried off of him in case her mum or Mickey returned and made more of it than it was…

_Then again… why would they try to make something of it if they know the Doctor was unconscious?_ Rose mused. _Guilty conscious maybe?_

Rose shook her head to clear it and took another deep breath. Perhaps the jumper wouldn't be as hard to get off…

True to her prediction, the jumper was nowhere near as complicated as the jacket to remove. Though, it was several times more distracting. Rose couldn't resist the temptation of eyeing the Doctor's shirtless torso. She reached out and carefully set her hand against his chest. The flesh was warmer than usual, she noticed, almost what she would consider feverish level for one with skin as cool as his usually was.

She placed a hand over one of his weakly beating hearts and then over the other. He still had two heart beats, that was for certain. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered to her, assuring her that this stranger was in fact her Doctor. A much louder voice yelled at her, insisting that it wasn't.

Rose felt confused.

_Maybe if the Doctor had taken into consideration that Rose Marion Tyler was nothing but a stupid ape that didn't know all the quirks of his all-mighty Time Lordiness… _Rose squeezed her eyes shut and took her hands off the Doctor's chest. Already her mind was wanting to hate the Doctor for not telling her something so important.

She couldn't allow herself to be angry with him. Maybe he had thought he would have more time to tell her, she reasoned. But if he had meant anything to her before this happened, she could forgive him for not telling her.

Holding back the threat of a loud sob, Rose bit down on her bottom lip and carefully rolled the Doctor onto his side. After sliding his arm into the pajama sleeve, she rolled him to his other side and repeated the movement.

_What did he mean to me_? Rose looked down at the pale face on the bed and let the question roll through her mind several more times. The answer was simple, he had meant everything to her. He was the reason she looked forward to waking up. No one else had ever had the whole of time and space to offer to her. Life with the Doctor was a constant adventure. That was something she couldn't get with Mickey, Jimmy, Adam… or even Jack for that matter. None of them were anywhere near being as clever and crafty as the Doctor.

_What had she meant to him_? Rose knew she couldn't get an answer to _that_ question. Even if he was fully conscious and in an extremely good mood, she knew she would never get an answer. What she would get was 'silly little apes and your insistence of putting labels on things as abstract and complex as _feelings_' and that was only if he was in a good mood. But, she had to have meant something to him right? Even if all she was to him was a friend, at least she would know…

She would at least know what to expect if he finally woke up.

888

The Doctor closed his eyes and let the cool winter air muss his hair a bit. He was standing on the little walk away in front of Jackie's flat, taking time getting accustomed his senses within his new body. He could taste a hint of cinnamon floating in the air and smell the scent of cheap whiskey coming from one of the roundabouts close by.

He could feel the gentle tug from both of the Earth's axis pulling him along as the planet spun at her dizzying speed, effectively connecting him to the infinite particles of sand and rock and magma beneath his feet so that he didn't whirl off into space for no reason.

When he opened his eyes, what used to be rather subdued lights of London were burning like their own little suns. It took a few seconds for his eyes to readjust, then all was good and prefect for the Doctor.

His ears perked when the ever so faint sound of the door behind him opening. Most wouldn't have heard it, but he could. He also knew by the change in the scent on the air, that it was Rose. He turned his head just enough to let Rose know that he knew she was there.

A bright smile crossed Rose's features and she looked over her shoulder before easing out of the door. She quietly closed the door and joined The Doctor at the rail. He just looked back out into the dimly lit courtyard. When Rose carefully slipped her hands around one of his, he knew she was ready to talk to him again.

"So, after I explained regeneration to you, your mum, and Mickey," the Doctor started. He wasn't yet looking directly at her, but he knew she was looking up at him with an adoring smile on her face and an almost expectant look in her eyes. "Do you feel more comfortable with the idea that it's really me?"

"Yeah," Rose said softly. He heard her laugh slightly. "Though I don't think mum expected the play by play of one of what happened on the ship. Speaking of which, are you alright? That was a bit of a nasty fall you took off the sofa. You were out a good minute or two."

"I was perfectly conscious," the Doctor defended. "I was just… calibrating."

"But I bet that'll teach ya to not jump up on the arm of the sofa again," Rose chuckled.

"It _moved _I tell you," the Doctor insisted. "I knew exactly what I was doing and where it was… it's just somehow the sofa moved out of my way."

"Wouldn't be the first time you were wrong."

The Doctor looked at Rose, his eyebrow raised questioningly. "When was a first time?"

"On the Sycorax ship," Rose said. "You said I gave up on you. I didn't. I tried to do what you always do." She paused slightly and blushed a deep red. "I failed miserably but I tried. But that didn't mean I gave up on you. I just knew I couldn't nothing… and wait for you to wake up and save the day."

"Good job at stalling them though," The Doctor grinned, trying his best not to laugh. He had a feeling she might not take to kindly to him laughing _at_ her.

The two of them fell silent. The Doctor returned his gaze to a street lamp that was now hazy with the cold that caused a slight halo around the light. Rose squeezed his hand slightly. He looked back to her and noticed she had her eyes on their joined hands and was nervously nibbling on her bottom lip.

"What all will be the same?" Rose asked quietly. She looked up at him and then quickly looked away again. "As far as… _us_ goes? I know you said you still wanted me to come along and all, but…"

The Doctor put a finger over Rose's lips. "Shh." Without another word, the Doctor latched his fingers around Rose's and darted for the stairs. Rose was giggling like a little school girl as he pulled her along behind him, down the stairs and across the ash littered ground to the waiting TARDIS. He cautiously looked either way before bringing out the TARDIS key and unlocking the door.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked as the Doctor led her inside.

"We're going on a trip," the Doctor boasted. "Just he two of us, right now, while everyone else sleeps the night away. What was one of your favourite places? New Vegas maybe? We could go back there… see how two thousand years treated them. See if that mayor ever got over the fact we stole the lad her daughter was supposed to marry. The daughter is probably still alive…" His eyes squinted thoughtfully as he started turning knobs on the console. "Hope she wasn't too bitter about that. Then again, she was only twelve and didn't want to get married yet. So I don't think she minded in the least. She'd be 2012 If we went that far forward. Sound like a plan?"

"What about my mum and all? Aren't we going to say goodbye?" Rose asked, but still took her place on the other side of the console, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Bah," the Doctor said, waving his hand. "We'll be back before breakfast. No one will even know we're gone."

"Last time you said that I had been gone a year!" Rose laughed. She seemed to realize what she said and stopped with a surprised expression. She cocked her head to the side slightly. "Is it… appropriate to refer to the old you as you as well?"

The Doctor, once again fought the urge to laugh, resulting in a broad grin. "Of course. You lot… you grow up and such… always changing into someone else. But, you're still you yeah?" He reached over and pulled up a lever, making the TARDIS' engines hum pleasantly as she shifted into the vortex. "Next stop… New Vegas, the year 25 alpha dot 16."


	10. Part Ten: Viva New Vegas

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things...

Title: Viva New Vegas

Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: All Ages  
Summary: Rose gets separated from the Doctor and placed into the capable hands of Jack Tyler… But who is this mysterious ginger-haired bloke dressed in all black? And why does she feel so drawn to him?  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

AN: I just realized something rather appropriate… I've 'officially' started the Tenth Doctor half of the series with part ten. XD I also apologize for taking so long to post this... I've had it finished for maybe a month now and even have Part 11 done. I just keep forgetting to post my stuff to ff net. So, curses to my bad memory.

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Part Ten - Viva New Vegas

* * *

_Take a deep breath_, Rose tried to get her nerves to settle. To say the least, of all the daft things she had done while travelling with the Doctor, this had to be one of the worst… Besides, how was she to know that signing that contract would put her up on an auction block to be someone's new girlfriend, wife, concubine, or whatever they wanted to do with her?

After all, she had been talking to girls that had been working for the club for years. Dancing girls. Dancing girls that actually kept most of their clothes on due to regional restrictions. She had thought that was what she was getting into… not _this_.

But, fortunately, The Doctor had managed to find her right as they were dragging her into the disused room she was currently in. Right now he was probably thinking of some clever scheme to get her out of the contract or sweep her away from whoever wanted to auction her off. Though, at least she understood what Captain Jack had meant by always making sure to read things on New Vegas before signing them.

A sudden thought of glee crossed Rose's mind. If her and the Doctor got Jack out of the same situation months ago… what would be stopping the Doctor from getting her out of it this time?

8888

Rose smiled when she heard the door open behind her. When she heard the door shut and heard the all-too-familiar buzz of the sonic screwdriver. It felt like her mind was floating on a cloud from the elation she was feeling… He hadn't let her down! Not that she had ever let the idea that he would cross her mind…

However when she turned, the smile faded away instantly. Instead of the suit and tie clad brown eyed man that she had been hoping to see… it was a man she had seen only on an advertisement just before her and the Doctor had come into the club, encouraging the citizens of New Vegas to send funds to some battle torn system to help the people recover.

He was the Prime Minister -- second in command to the mayor -- of New Vegas. And Rose couldn't help but think how much more handsome he looked in person. Even the Doctor had been forced to say the young man looked good while they had been watching the advertisement outside of the club. Then again, this new Doctor of hers seemed to have a fondness for gingers and the Prime Minister was _very_ ginger.

He had what Rose could guess to be shoulder length ginger hair, if he hadn't had it slicked back into a tight ponytail. His pale complexion was disturbed by a mass of dark freckles across his cheeks and button nose. The freckles complimented the pale sea-foam green eyes.

The clothes he was wearing reminded her of her other Doctor, except the Prime Minister seemed to have it all put together in an immaculate sort of way that her other Doctor would have hated him… Black leather military boots peeked out from under loose fitting leather trousers. His black, high neck jumper was tucked neatly into the trousers and it was all topped off with a long black leather coat. When he removed his hands from his pockets, they were clad in fitted leather gloves.

Rose half expected to see some kind of earring when her eyes travelled to his ears, but apparently he felt he already looked enough like he could easily snap a person in two and didn't need such a trivial thing to add to it. Feeling an unnatural surge of bravery, Rose straightened herself and faced the Prime Minister like she would have any other bloke that tried to intimidate her.

"You're not the Doctor," she said firmly.

"Keen observational skills," he replied with a faint half-laugh. All at once the imposing and intimidating façade seemed to melt away the moment he smiled "But, if you want to be technical, I am the Doctor -- at least that's what go by here. I may not be _your_ Doctor but I am _a_ doctor nonetheless…" he stopped and Rose felt her heart flip when he gave her a smile and waved his hand dismissively. "You get the point. You may call me Jack Tyler if you wish though."

Rose looked at the door as Jack Tyler strode casually around the room, looking at everything. "Where's the Doctor? _My_ Doctor," she demanded sternly.

"Standing outside the door, staring at it like a little puppy that's locked out of the house during a particularly nasty rain storm," Jack muttered, running a black-gloved finger across a dusty end table. He looked at his dust-covered finger, made a face, and thoroughly wiped the dust off on his coat. "Hmm… it _has_ been a good ten years or so since I was last in this room…" he continued off-handed. His gaze went to the ceiling for a moment as his muttered, "I could say something but it won't really matter in three days time now will it?"

As Rose gazed at him stonily, she still couldn't help but think she knew Jack's face from somewhere… some _when_ before. "I know you," Rose said hastily. "Don't know how or when I know you, but I've seen you before haven't I? Some place other than _here_."

Jack turned his attention away from the dusty tables and shelves and gave Rose a flirtatious wink. "I really have to commend you on your keen observational skills." He looked off toward the ceiling almost dreamily. "The date… the date was… your birthday. Your eighteenth birthday to be more precise --" He bit his tongue and looked down at the floor as if it would give him some sort of clue. "Or was it your seventeenth?" He shook his head and delivered a few sharp hits with his fist to the side of his head. "Eighteenth! Yes. Jimmy Stone and you had just had it out and broken up because---" He looked at Rose expectantly.

Rose's eyes widened. "I wouldn't let him in my pants," she said hazily. "But, then, later that night…" Her jaw dropped as she realized where she knew Jack's face. "_You_. You're the bloke that ended up walking me back home that night. Then we ended up…" She found herself at lose for words. "How…"

Jack simply blinked at her in surprise. "So you think the Doctor is only one with a ship that can travel through space and time?" He grinned again and Rose felt her heart flutter.

Rose narrowed her eyes at the man. "How do you know about the Doctor?"

"Like I told _him_. I have some good friends in Torchwood," Jack said as he stood in front of Rose. He looked like he was about to do like he had done with the table and check _her_ for dust as well. Instead, he put a gloved finger under her chin and tilted her face ever so slightly so that she could look at him in his eyes. "So you are by no means a mystery to me. In fact, some would probably argue that you're more my obsession than him."

For some reason, as she was gazing up into his pale eyes, that he was somehow pushing into her mind. But just as soon as she thought she had put her finger on it, Jack pulled away and sprang to the window.

"But, I suppose the real question is… how do we get out of here without the Doctor seeing us?" he asked aloud, but Rose knew he was not talking to her.

"I'm not leaving without the Doctor. This was all one big mistake," Rose tried to reason. "I didn't read the contract!" When she realized Jack was by no means playing attention to her, Rose stomped her foot and firmly said, "I'm _not_ marrying you. And if you even think about trying the Doc--"

"The Doctor will swoop in and rescue you… yeah yeah yeah… blah blah blah…" Jack said dismissively, thrusting the windows open wide. "This looks like a good way out…" Rose jumped back slightly when Jack ran over and threw one of his arms around her waist. "Don't worry, I don't plan on marrying you either." He raced back across the room and climbed up onto the windowsill. He turned to Rose, holding out his hand as the wind blew his coat and hair about like a cape on his slim body. "Come on."

"You're mental, you are," Rose commented.

"What's your point? You lost your virginity to an almost complete stranger. Which of us is more mental?" Jack grinned widely and wiggled his fingers invitingly. "Come on, you're safe with me. I promise."

Rose considered the offer for a moment. She couldn't explain why, but she trusted him. She trusted a complete stranger -- well maybe not a _complete_ stranger. But, come to think of it, she was doing that a lot lately. She had trusted Captain Jack Harkness after only knowing him a few minutes, in Osterberg -- even though he had sort of freaked her out a bit at first -- she had trusted Quilley, and most of all she had entrusted herself to the Doctor. So, if Jack Tyler was asking her to trust him and she impulsively wanted to, then that had to mean he could actually be trusted.

She hoped.

Rose found herself smiling as she ran to the window and took Jack's hand. However, as soon as he pulled her up onto the windowsill, she started questioning her immediate trust in him. The lights of New Vegas were all around her -- above, below, and surrounding her -- the wind whipped around the two of them viciously.

"You _are _bloody mental," Rose choked out. "How did you plan on getting out of the room through the window exactly?"

Jack looked down at the wide street below where the citizens and visitors of New Vegas bustled back and forth like tiny little ants. Rose was actually rather glad at that moment that the New Vegans used air travel instead of roadway cars, she didn't exactly like the idea of plummeting fifty floors and _then_ getting ran over by a car.

Jack shrugged and grinned down at her. "Well… you know what Elvis said… All you need--"

"Is love?" Rose interrupted.

Jack blinked and starred at her as if she had just said the most idiotic thing in the entirety of time and space. "Um no, Rose, that would be the Beatles. _Elvis_ said 'All you need's a strong heart and a nerve of steel'…" Without another word he put his arm around her waist, pulled her feet off the sill, and held her firmly against him.

Rose's eyes widened and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. As Jack jumped off the windowsill, she screamed in utmost horror. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and almost instantly felt a jolt and she was placed on her feet… nothing but the wind gave any indication that they were anywhere near the window she could have sworn Jack had just leapt out of. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and looked down.

Her and Jack were floating in the mid-air about five feet from the window. She looked down at the people rushing around fifty floors down and looked up to Jack's amused face. Rose slowly released him then jumped up and down to test the air. "Let me guess," Rose said, as she stopped jumping. "Chula warship under us?"

Jack shook his head. "No. New Vegan star cruiser and we're _in_ it. It was a gift from the mayor about thirty years ago. Bless her, been trying to get into _my_ pants for half a century and I just won't give in no matter how many nice things she gives me." He reached into an inner pocket in his coat -- Rose half expected him to pull out a sonic screwdriver because she was so used to being with the Doctor. Instead, he pulled out a small black controller with three buttons. He pressed one of the buttons and a ship slowly materialized _around_ them.

Or, rather, a very elaborate and posh looking ballroom materialized around them, complete with a floor to ceiling window that looked out over the city below. Rose ran to the window and pressed her face against the cool glass to look at the lights. After a few minutes, she turned to her 'rescuer' and grinned widely.

"Now _that _was impressive," Rose commented. "So is this supposed to be some sort of intergalactic cruise ship or something?"

"Actually, yes," Jack replied. "I can give you a full tour of the place. Should only take a couple of years."

Rose leaned back against the glass and eyed the young man. "So, do you make a habit of making girls think you're about to kill them? Or travelling through time to deflower them?"

"Nope," Jack replied simply, leaning on the glass next to her. "I don't really make a habit of taking them on my ship either. Ready to go?"

Rose raised and eyebrow and turned her head to look at Jack. "Where?"

Jack rolled his eyes up at the ceiling in thought. "Oh, I don't know. How about anywhere?" His face took on an almost childlike excitement as he bounced away from the glass wall and twirled around with his arms spread out. "This ship is the second best ship available for travelling through space. Fourteen hyper drives that can get us across the entire span of the universe in less than ten minutes if that's where you want to go."

He stopped spinning and turned abruptly to face Rose, he held up the little keypad and pressed another button. "But in order to do that…" The room around them seemed to slowly melt away and become replaced by a much smaller control room, complete with two high backed pilot seats and more buttons and levers than Rose could ever imagine necessary for any machine. "We need the control room."

"Fancy," Rose chimed, with laughter ringing in her voice. "I'll leave the destination up to you."

Jack bound to the controls and pushed several buttons and pulled down a lever. The cruiser gave a slight lurch as it began to move but then it began to smoothly coast upward, Rose did her best to look out of the window over the controls but wasn't quite able to. Jack noticed her craning her next and gave her a half smile. He pushed a button on his little keypad and all the walls and machinery melted away so that it was as if she were floating above New Vegas.

"Just let me turn on the signal scrambler so your friend can't follow us," Jack said, jabbing at controls that were no longer there. "There was go. That should keep him going crazy for a few hours."

"The TARDIS will find us no matter where we go," Rose pointed out. "It's the best ship in the whole of time and space."

"Oh, I won't deny that," Jack commented. He gave Rose a wink as he stood next to her, looking around at the span of lights as they rose above them. "But just trust me. He won't be able to find us." He pointed down toward the street. "In fact, there he goes now. Racing to try and find us. He's going to be materializing somewhere completely different than this ship. It'll piss him off, so he'll try again… He'll end up on the top of a building, five hours before you lot got here. So, he'll try again, several more times, and eventually end up landing in the same spot you parked when you first arrived, a week later. Actually, thinking about it now, it's a rather amusing situation."

Rose felt her heart drop and she looked at Jack forlornly. "No it's not. He's going to be running himself frantic. I don't find it the least bit amusing! He's not long finished re-re-re-…"

"Regenerating," Jack supplied.

"Regenerating!" Rose spat. "What if his mind still isn't properly tuned and he forgets who he is or how to work the TARDIS?"

Jack took Rose's face in his hands, locking her eyes with his. Once again Rose felt like he was pushing past every defence she had and was looking into the deepest parts of her mind. Rose still couldn't help but think she could trust those pale eyes and it had nothing to do with the night the two of them had shared on her eighteenth birthday. There was something warm and familiar about his eyes that she still couldn't place… as if she had gazed into those eyes before and found an elusive place to call home.

_You want to know don't you_? Jack voice echoed in the back of her mind. _I can show you, do you want to see_?

_Yes_, Rose heard her mind respond.

Jack slid his hands away from Rose's face and placed them on her hips. "Then dance with me Rose Tyler," Jack said, barely above a whisper into her ear. His hands stayed on her hips, never once daring to roam anyplace they wouldn't have been welcome. One hand released her for a fraction of a moment, but was put back once a slow melody began playing from somewhere unseen. "You'll find your feet, at the end of your legs… You may care to move them."

Rose saw a flash of different images race through her mind as she rested her temple against Jack's cheek. A slight smile tugged at her lips as she recalled saying the same thing to her other Doctor when they had been trapped in the storage room during the London Blitz. Another series of images passed through -- her and her other Doctor surrounded by a beautiful gold light as he kissed her… it almost felt like he was Prince Charming bringing her back from death with a kiss.

It was the same light she had seen in the back of the Doctor's mind as they rode the waves of release… But somehow, she knew she needn't worry about that light anymore, the danger of the light was gone. Even though, she couldn't exactly see her other Doctor sacrificing himself to save _her_ of all people.

Yet another flash of images passed through. This time it was of her new Doctor, his hands lovingly following stone curves. He brushed away dust and any excess that wasn't supposed to be in his way as he delicately chiselled away on an ear on the statue. His tongue pinched between his teeth in concentration. When he pulled away to survey his work, Rose was looking at her own face, immortalized in stone.

She saw kisses. _A lot of heated kisses_ and touches with her new Doctor.

She saw danger and running for their lives… Tellies that sucked faces off of those that watched it… She saw Daleks… millions of Daleks zooming past, her new Doctor across the way, clinging to something on the wall, a look of almost psychotic glee on his face… And then she was falling away from him, the look of glee replaced by one of shock and horror as he reached for her but knowing he wouldn't be able to save her.

Rose pulled back as she felt Jack trembling. "You all right?" she asked softly.

"I am right now," Jack whispered, pulling her back close again.

"How do you know all the things me and the other Doctor--" Rose started, but then trailed off. "Sorry, I keep forgetting you're a time traveller from 'Torchwood', was it?"

"Nope," Jack replied with a smug grin. "Never said _I_ was from Torchwood. Just that I have friends there."

Rose searched her mind to try and place where she had heard of 'Torchwood' before… And what exactly were all those images that had gone through her head? She looked at Jack curiously.

"You just put things in my head didn't you?" she asked slowly. "Because if you did, I will tell you _right now_ I do not like anyone or anything mucking about with my head _without _permission." She poked him in the chest as if to prove her point. "And speaking of which… What right did you have to go about mucking with my past? You could cause a paradox or something!"

"I didn't _mean_ to. My ship just happened to have puttered out there," Jack defended stiffly. "I heard a voice -- your voice -- yelling for someone to leave you alone. I'm just one of those lot that is pre-programmed to be a hero. Besides, which would you have preferred? Being saved or being beaten by that bastard Jimmy Stone? What would have happened if I hadn't come and told him to sod off?"

Rose opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a lose for words. So, she was content just to frown at Jack. She finally found a weak come back in her mind and spat out, "Probably… Probably the same thing that happened between you and me later." Once she had said it, the comment seemed even weaker than it had sounded in her head.

Jack was giving her a stony stare, one that almost resembled the ones the other Doctor would give Rose when she had done or said something 'ape-ish' again. It was that cold hard stare that made Rose wonder is she wanted to run and hide or attempt to throw the Doctor against a wall, rip his clothes off, and take him right then and there -- which, for record, Rose knew the latter always ended better. Then, without warning, Jack started laughing.

"I don't find this at all amusing," Rose gawked.

Jack stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "Sorry. Forgive me?" He held his hand out again, Rose grumbled as she took it. He pulled her close again and disembodied music once again was the only sound around them as he carefully led them in a slow dance as the invisible ship lifted them higher and higher into the skies of New Vegas. "Be careful not to touch my skin," Jack whispered close to her ear. "If you don't want me getting in your head again that is."

Rose ran her fingers over the lapels of Jack's coat. "So _that's _why you wear all the coverings?"

"Yeah. And it's not just with civilized thinking beings either," Jack explained. "It happened after that night with you. For some reason I started being able to touch things and… feel their thoughts, I can see their thoughts, or show them mine. I had some sort of accident and… my ship tried to patch me up the best it could."

"If it was nanogenes… my friend, the Doctor… he could probably help you," Rose offered. She hoped that maybe that would get her back to the Doctor sooner than the supposed week Jack had referred to.

Jack looked worried for a moment but then politely declined. "It's mostly his fault I'm like this, in a way so I want to try and keep as distant as possible. It's all right though; I've learned to keep it _mostly_ under control. I just have to keep my wits about me and keep up the barriers." He lightly drummed his fingers against Rose's waist to indicate the gloves on his hands.

Without missing a beat, as the song ended, Jack gave her a slow dip back. Rose burst into laughter as he pulled her back up right. Once she had recovered she saw a pained and distant look in Jack's eyes. Then without warning, his mouth clamped down firmly on hers.

_There goes the 'not to touch his skin' idea_, Rose thought just before she could see another flood of images rushing through her mind. She gasped sharply when one particular image hit her mind, she shoved jack away and stared at him wide eyed.

"You're… Oh God," she whimpered in disbelief. "You can't be… Oh God…" her head was spinning. "Oh my…" before she could finish the statement, she felt her mind spin and she collapsed in a faint.

8888

The TARDIS seemed to be grumbling at him in displeasure as she materialized at the third location. But the Doctor could sympathize with her annoyance… Considering his first act in his new body was to pull levers that never had any business being pulled and crash-landing her in London.

His first attempt to locate Rose he had ended up on an asteroid on the other side of the universe. He had run out, looked around desperately before realizing he was no longer in New Vegas. Then, he ran back inside the TARDIS and tried again.

The second time he ended up on New Vegas, the TARDIS precariously perched on the ledge of a rather high building. It was a good thing he didn't rush out like he had previously, otherwise he would have ended up falling well over three miles from the air and to the microscopic streets below. "Definitely not the right place," he said, slamming the TARDIS doors closed.

After about the tenth time of materializing somewhere that was definitely not where Rose was, he ran back into the TARDIS and gave the console a swift kick. And, had he not been thrashing about on the floor from the pain in his foot, the Doctor would have been yelling at his ship -- demanding she get her locator correct next time.

He couldn't help but thing Rose's opinion of the new him depended very much on whether or not he managed to find her before she ended up some weird alien Prime Minister's play toy. If this was any indication, she was going to end up having a very low opinion of him. Eventually, the Doctor recovered from his injured foot and limped up to the console screen, trying one last time to locate Rose in the span of space and time.

In one moment, she seemed to be in one location, the next moment the reading was coming from some planet on the other side of space three billion years in the future. That couldn't have been right… the signal jumped back to the original location then jumped some place else, this time in the past. The moment the signal blipped back to the original location, the Doctor locked onto the coordinates and raced around the console -- pushing buttons, pushing levers, and ringing bells as needed.

"Come on… you can do it… Don't let them fool ya again old girl. Let's show that bloody prime minister he can't take our Rose so easily…" he said through gritted teeth as the TARDIS' engine began grinding out her familiar sounds. "I swear if you can get it this time…" he gave the console a kiss -- and an unintentional hug as the TARDIS lurched.

The Doctor raced about again, this time to get the engines to power down as they arrived at their location. Once the TARDIS resumed her pleasant and contented humming, the Doctor raced back to the screen to see where they had ended up. He threw his hands up in victory.

New Vegas, only a few hours after he had left!

He raced out of the TARDIS right as Rose and the Prime Minister -- arm-in-arm -- were coming out of the building door laughing at some joke the Prime Minister had finished right before the two exited the building. Rose was by no means wearing the same jeans and jackets she had been wearing when they had snuck away from Powell Estates. She was dressed like a typical New Vegan high-society woman… Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and done in a masse of curls and covered with a pale pink veil that matched her pale pink and dark purple sari. She had large hoop earrings in her ears.

_Wait a minute_, the Doctor thought in panic. _Had the screen said seven hours or seven days?_

"It's about time you showed up," Rose greeted him in perfectly good humour. She slipped her hand from the crook of the Prime Minster's arm. She whirled around a few times in front of the Doctor. "What do you think?"

"You look lovely," the Doctor replied. His eyes went to the Prime Minster as a doorman was hanging him a pink bag that matched Rose's sari. He felt a twinge of jealousy as the ginger-haired man then presented the back to Rose.

Rose giggled and threw her arms around the Prime Minster's neck. "Thanks for a lovely time."

"You're welcome…" the Prime Minster replied, rapping his arms around Rose's waist and lifting her feet off the ground. The Doctor was grinding his teeth together when he saw the man's gloved hands slowly slide intimately to the curve of Rose's hips so that his fingers grazed her backside. When he put Rose back on her feet, he gave Rose an endearing look. Rose just smiled up at him.

"You'll be seeing me soon then?" Rose asked in a low voice. The Doctor could tell it was a question intended only for the Prime Minster.

"I hope so," the Prime Minster whispered, then gave Rose a long kiss on the forehead.

The Doctor could feel his left eye want to start twitching so he turned and stomped into the TARDIS to let the two finish their goodbyes. He busied himself setting the coordinates for only a couple of hours after they had left the Powell Estates, hoping against all odds that the TARDIS would be able to get there without any incident.

Eventually, Rose came into the TARDIS, running her hand along the arches before she made her way to the console seat. But not without first giving the Doctor a quick peck on the cheek. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Rassilon… he had so many questions to ask her -- the sort of questions jealous sorts asked their… He stopped his train of thought right there before he let himself get too hopeful that maybe Rose had accept the new him as _that_.

"I know that look," Rose commented when the Doctor shifted his attention back to the controls. "Jimmy Stone used to get the same look when I would talk to Mickey. And I'm going to tell you the same thing I would tell Jimmy. He treated me with utmost dignity and respect and didn't do anything I would not feel comfortable telling you about."

The Doctor felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. The tiny little glimmer of hope had reasserted itself in his ego. He gave Rose a bright grin and yanked up on a lever that sent the TARDIS into the vortex -- and hopefully it would land in the right place.

"You know, one of these days Rose," the Doctor threatened with good humour. "I'm going to go back in time while you're asleep… and do away with that blasted Jimmy Stone."

Rose clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Don't you dare. If you do that I might not end up travelling with you and then that would completely undo a bunch of other history." Her tongue peeked from between her teeth as she returned the grin.

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he gave a mock-exasperated sigh. "Oh, _fine_. I'll just go back and -- oh I don't know… take your virginity." The smile instantly went away from Rose's face and was replaced by an expression of what the Doctor could only describe as shock… extreme shock… on the borderline of horror type of shock.

"What did you just say?" Rose asked quietly.

The Doctor quickly realized he had just stepped over a boundary Rose was not ready for him to cross. "It was just a joke Rose." Rose just looked at him blankly, blinking at him in disbelief. "Ah, here we are… Powell Estates, day after Christmas at around seven a.m. I don't even think your mum is awake yet so we should be able to sneak back into the flat easily." He walked over and waved his hand in front of Rose's face. She startled slightly and gave him a bright smile.

"Yeah, shouldn't be too hard to explain this get-up," Rose replied, indicating her sari. "But I should be able to get some pyjamas on before mum wakes up yeah?"

The Doctor turned to head for the door, but Rose grabbed his wrist and tugged him back. She slipped off the seat and hugged him fiercely. It took him a moment to realize she was softly crying onto his coat. After a slight hesitation, the Doctor put his arms around Rose and gave her temple a slight kiss.


	11. Part Eleven: Intrusion

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things...

Title: Intrusion  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: "Wait a minute…" she said unsurely. "You were… in my head…" She disappeared from the edge of the bed. The Doctor slowly sat up to see Rose sitting on her knees in the middle of her bed, rubbing her temples with an even more perplexed expression on her face. "How were you in my head?"

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Part Eleven - Intrusion

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The Doctor felt a slight smile tug at his lips as he watched Rose turn over on her bed, one arm flopping above her head as she made herself comfortable again and drifted back into a proper REM cycle. At some point in her turning her little spaghetti strapped top had worked its way up to reveal her -- delightful? No, that wasn't the right word for it the Doctor pondered as he slowly licked his lips… delectable, perhaps? Oh yes… definitely -- her delectable stomach become mostly exposed. Her flannel pyjama bottoms were starting to twist in manner that looked as uncomfortable as the Doctor thought they must feel.

Then again, he knew for a fact that on the TARDIS she had a wonderful habit of sleeping naked, so even the slightest amount of clothing would be making his Rose toss and turn uncomfortably. But, being at her mum's flat, Rose had done what was expected and donned the little sleeping outfit before retreating to her pink and purple bedroom.

He watched her pretty face flinch a few times and a frown graced her features and then she rolled over again. She mumbled something about the Daleks and Badwolf and she frowned again. Without bothering to look over his shoulder to make sure Jackie wasn't meandering through the flat, he hurried into the room, being careful to shut the door behind him. By time he kicked off his shoes and crawled into the bed behind Rose, she was trembling fiercely.

He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "You don't have to worry about them Rose," he whispered softly in her ear. "_I'm _here." Almost instantly Rose stopped trembling and gave a contented sigh.

With a half smile, the Doctor reached up and brushed at the stray hairs that had fallen across Rose's face. He had a eerie feeling that he was falling when his fingers barely grazed her temple. He jerked his hand back and looked at it in confusion. Then, ever so slowly, a grin spread across his face. It took all his will power not to wake Rose up and tell him about a new discovery of his.

Then again, he wasn't sure it was what he thought it was… and there was only one way to find out. Not to mention Rose was asleep so it wasn't like she would object to him using her as a test subject. It had been so long since he had done something like this -- or had he _ever _done anything like this? He couldn't remember.

He wiggled his fingers and then carefully rested them against Rose's temple. She gave a slightly sharp intake of breath then released it in a soft moan. At first he was greeted with delicious images involving naked body parts and chocolate syrup then made a mental note to try it later. He was barely grazing the surface of Rose's subconscious, looking at the dream that had taken the place of the nightmare that had originally took him into Rose's bed.

He tried to find any memories involving what had happened during Rose's week long stay with the New Vegas Prime Minister, but found absolutely nothing -- as if it were locked behind a Doctor-proof door. So, the Doctor meandered further back until he was looking at a much younger Jackie cooing and making all sorts of ridiculous noises.

_Okay, a little _too _far back_, the Doctor thought with amusement. He wasn't sure how long he had been meandering around in Rose's mind when suddenly he was looking at a not-much younger Rose, struggling to pull away from a lad that looked like he had stepped right out of a Seattle grunge band. Somehow he already knew the name of the young man before Rose yelled at him…

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"Let me go Jimmy or I'll call for help," Rose threatened weakly, continuing to try and yank her arm free of Jimmy's firm grip.

"Haven't you learnt by now," Jimmy sighed with annoyance. "No one ever helps. You're not _important _enough for anyone to help."

Rose struggled even more to pull away but Jimmy held on even tighter. His other hand raised, ready to give her one of his many hard slaps across the face. Only… this time his hand didn't make contact. After a few moments of not feeling the expected contact Rose hesitantly opened her eyes to see that someone had grabbed the hand and had it up Jimmy's back. Jimmy's eyes were wide with surprise and the hand that had been gripping Rose's arm released her.

"Should be a little more respectful towards her," a welsh voice growled.

Rose could barely make out a vague shape in the shadows behind Jimmy. Jimmy choked on a pained gasp as her rescuer yanked Jimmy's arm even further up on his back.

"I'd be careful if I were you _Jimmy_," the voice continued. "One wrong move and I'll either dislocate your arm or snap your neck like a twig. You've got two options… One, you can apologize to this ---" the voice stopped abruptly when Rose saw the outline of the person look directly at her. He said her name breathlessly and then seemed to remember he was in the middle of threatening Jimmy. "I've decided to rethink option one. Now, option one is you can leave Rose alone. Or option two… _You can leave Rose alone_."

"I'll let her alone then," Jimmy squeaked. His eyes darted to Rose, she could see the anger burning behind Jimmy's eyes and knew she would probably pay for this intrusion later.

Almost instantly, the rescuer released Jimmy and gave him a good shove. "Off ya go," the rescuer said as Jimmy scurried away.

Rose watched as Jimmy ran off then slowly turned towards her rescuer, which was now some distance away as he walked. He had known her name… How had he known her name? She felt for sure Jimmy hadn't said it and she certainly hadn't said her own name. Feeling intrigued, she raced after him.

"Oi!" she called out and reached for the tattered remnants of what may have, at one time, been a rather nice World War II winter coat. The young man turned abruptly and she immediately found herself staring into the most beautiful set of sea foam green eyes she had ever seen -- well, make that the _only_ set she had ever seen. She blinked, momentarily transfixed by the piercing eyes. She shook her head to clear it and gave the young man a smile. "You can't save a girl and just strut off like that."

"I did," he replied. "And I am."

He pulled his tattered sleeve out of her limp grip and continued on his journey. Once again, Rose hurried to catch up. "What if he comes back?" she asked. "If Jimmy is anything, it's persistent. He'd wait about until he thought you were gone and demand I tell him who you are and all that sort." She collided with his back as he came to a stop. Before she could stagger back or fall over, the stranger had spun around and caught her. She swallowed hard as she looked up into the green eyes, her breath catching in her throat for a moment. "B… B'sides. I had a few questions for ya."

"Like what?" he said quietly, helping Rose find her feet but still not removing his hands from her hips.

"Can I buy you a drink for saving my life?" Rose asked. "Or, we can go to where I live and have a few drinks there. I'm sure my mum has some things stashed away. Besides, it's my eighteenth birthday… It'd be a crime of nature for me not to at least have a drink or two." Rose pulled out all her tricks that she used to get guys to see things her way. She was surprised to discover all she had to do was wrap her arm one of his arms and look up at him with a pleading look.

The stranger looked pleasantly smitten. "Can't say 'no' to that face now can I?"

Rose smiled brightly. "My place is closer… come on." Her hand slipped effortlessly into his and she bound toward the estates. But, after only a few steps the stranger came to a halt. Rose turned and looked at him curiously. "What?"

"You don't know anything about me," he said. "I could just be some sort of serial killer or stalker and you're taking me to your home like you've known me for years. Don't you see anything remotely odd about that?"

Rose rolled her eyes up at the and pursed her lips. After a moment of mental deliberation she gave the stranger a wide grin. "I'll take my chances. 'Sides, you saved my life I owe it to ya." Without waiting for another objection, Rose dragged her rescuer to the flat she shared with her mother.

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The Doctor frowned and pulled out of Rose's mind. It wasn't because he memory was holding no curiosity for him -- quite the opposite actually, he was rather eager to find out what the rescuer in the shadows looked like and a little more about him -- but because he had developed a rather nasty twinge of pain in his head for a split second that had caused him to loose his concentration.

Rose was trembling again and flinching in her sleep. He peeked back into her mind and saw that her dreams had went back to Satellite 5. Out of sheer instinct, he tried to find a much more pleasant memory to give her to dream about. Just as he was about to dive into her mind and find one, Rose gasped sharply and shoved him away.

The Doctor hit the floor with a loud thud and groan of pain. "What was that for?" he asked with a pitiful tone.

Rose appeared over the edge of the bed, glaring at him. "You were in my head," she stated accusingly. "How many times have I got to tell ya not to go about mucking with my head without permission?"

"You were having a nightmare," the Doctor argued. Hopefully she wouldn't catch on that he had actually been more or less _snooping_ about in her head… "I was just trying to help."

Rose opened her mouth to rely but then clamped her mouth shut as she gave the Doctor a confused look. "Wait a minute…" she said unsurely. "You were… in my head…" She disappeared from the edge of the bed. The Doctor slowly sat up to see Rose sitting on her knees in the middle of her bed, rubbing her temples with an even more perplexed expression on her face. "How were you in my head?"

"Time Lord trick," the Doctor boasted, wiggling his fingers with delight as he looked at them. "Wasn't too good at it last time around. Well, come to think of it, I don't think I really tried it last time. Did I? I think I would remember something like that but I don't seem to be able to recall -- I'm rambling again aren't I?"

Rose grinned gently. "Yes." She flopped back to lay down on her bed and patted the space next to her. "Just as long as you shut it long enough for me to get some sleep tonight, I'm good." Within the space of half a second, the Doctor was beside her on the bed, laying on his side so he could watch her in the glow of the city lights coming through her window.

The Doctor was innocently reaching up to stroke Rose's hair, but she cut him off mid-grab by the wrist and took his hand to her waist. "New rule, Doctor," Rose grinned cheekily, her tongue peeking between her teeth. "Hands nowhere near my head without permission."

He didn't feel like pressing the issue. After all, he had so far spent three nights in his new body and she was finally letting him into her bed so he wasn't about to do anything to get him sent back to the uncomfortable sofa. So, he just mildly shrugged and slipped the tips of his fingers into the waistband of Rose's flannel pyjama pants. When she inhaled slowly and deeply, he withdrew his fingers and moved his hand up to rest on her stomach instead.

"You didn't have to move it," Rose said quietly, turning her head slightly to look at him. She gave him a faint smile and the Doctor felt a slight tug at the corner of his lips as he moved his hand back to where it had previously been. Rose in turn turned onto her side and snuggled close to him. "I sleep better on the TARDIS you know…"

The Doctor shrugged slightly. "Yeah well… that slip you took on the stairs while we were sneaking in yesterday did a number on your ankle and I refuse to fight your mother on _that_ issue. If Jackie Tyler says you are to stay put until the swelling goes down then that's what we've got to do. Besides, we never know when we might need to run for our lives so it's not a good idea to leave just yet."

Rose grinned and giggled slightly. "I can't believe that… We were so close to getting back in without her knowing."

"I can't believe she bought your story of how you had 'just stepped outside get a paper' and slipped on the steps coming back up," the Doctor snickered.

"We're just lucky mum thought I had worn these jams instead of the pink ones that disappeared between here and New Vegas," Rose grinned slightly, snapping the little spaghetti strap of her pyjama top. "Is it driving you crazy wondering what happened while I was there?"

The Doctor half smiled and chose the ignore Rose's question for a moment. Instead he removed his hand from Rose's waistline and reached up to lightly trace his finger over the part of the dark purple marks between Rose's shoulder blades. The moment his finger touched the mark, Rose gasped sharply as the mark burned reddish-orange for half a second before returning back to the normal purple lines.

"Not one bit," the Doctor grinned, returning his hand to its former spot.

Rose took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something but then clamped her mouth shut. She opened her mouth and shut it again several more times before heaving a sigh and muttering, "Never mind."

"What?" the Doctor asked innocently.

"I thought I felt something for a mo'…" she said unsurely. "Oh well. Good night."


	12. Part Twelve: Desperation

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things…

Story Title: Desperation  
Author: Rambling Rose  
Rating: Adult… very adult.  
Summary: "You have on too many clothes," she pointed out, reaching up to pull at the knot of his already loose tie.  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

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Part Twelve - Desperation

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"Now where's he gone off too?" Jackie huffed, eyeing her daughter as she packed up a bag.

Rose turned slightly. "To the TARDIS of course," she replied. "Getting her ready to leave." She could hear her mother's deep inhale. With a grin, Rose walked over to her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "The ankle's all better now so we're good to go. We've been here a week mum, we're both going mad with wanting to get on the move again."

"Why doesn't he go then?" Jackie asked sadly. "You can stay 'ere and you and Mickey can go backpacking through Europe or something… That'd be adventure enough wouldn't it? You don't have to go swanning off to some alien planet for adventure. There's plenty to be had here."

"I already promised the Doctor I would go with him Mum," Rose managed, in spite of trying to fight the urge to grin like an idiot. The moment she turned back to her packing, the threatening grin spread across her lips.

"Can't you change your mind?" her Mum pleaded.

"Of course I can," Rose shrugged. "But I'm not going to."

Rose found herself moving even quicker than before, trying to get her clothes into her bag. The quicker she could get to the TARDIS, the quicker her and the Doctor could get to this 'New Earth' he'd been telling them about over breakfast. Then of course there had been the whispering and giggling that had caused her mother to unceremoniously burst into her room earlier that morning, after discovering the Doctor had vacated the sofa for another night in a row.

Fortunately Rose had been able to explain that one without her mother mentioning another word about it afterwards.

Luckily, her mum hadn't decided to burst in at about three in the morning… otherwise Jacqueline Tyler would have gotten an eye full of things she probably didn't want her daughter doing with anyone, much less an alien that could change his face and had a habit of bouncing around the whole of time and space in a phone box…

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_Around 3 a.m. that morning…_

Rose felt a poke against the side of her nose. She swatted at whatever it was that decided it would be prudent to poke her rolled over so that she was face down in her pillow. Next thing she knew, she felt a finger in her ear. With that, she made a mad punch at the air flinging her fist about in hopes of making contact. After half a minute of hitting nothing, she decided it would prove best to bury her head _under_ her pillow.

Just when she thought she had managed to thwart all the attempts of poking to her person, she felt a finger poke her in the side. Rose jerked into as tight of a ball as she could manage while yanking her duvet around her body, as if it were some sort of magical cocoon that could keep the poker at bay. Unfortunately, she had neglected to pull one of her feet into the protective layer and a hand seized her ankle and another started tickling the bottom of her foot.

"Leave me _alone_," she whined, kicking her other foot toward her attacker. She heard a yelp as her foot made contact. With a heavy sigh, she flung her duvet off and sat up to see the Doctor sitting on her floor holding his mouth -- he didn't have on either of his jackets and was slightly ruffled. She glanced over at her clock then back to the Doctor. "Don't you see what time it is?" she hissed, pointing at the clock.

"I don't have to look," the Doctor grinned. "I know for a fact that it is two, fifty-seven -- Your clock is three minutes off by the way -- and thirty-four seconds… thirty-five… thirty-six…"

"What are you _doing_," Rose said with an exasperated sigh. "My mum could be coming back from that New Year's party any minute now…"

"She already did. That's why I'm off the sofa and she is on it," the Doctor explained. "I had to find some place safe to escape to after nearly being mauled by your mum. _And_, I'm bored."

"Bored?"

"Yes," the Doctor said slowly. "Bored. In a state of boredom. Lacking proper mental stimulation, resulting in a feeling of waiting to chuck myself off the London Bridge just so I have something to do. Having no--"

"I get the point," Rose interrupted.

The Doctor didn't have to wait for an invitation, he was quite content to invite himself to bounce up onto Rose's bed. Rose fell back laughing as the Doctor crawled over her on all fours with a hand and a knee on either side of her. She reached up to yank the Doctor's tie.

"Aren't you going to come up with some sort of almost perverted comment about me needing to be punished for waking you up?" the Doctor asked.

"Nope," Rose replied, pulling at the Doctor's until he was nose-to-nose with her. "If anything, you need to be punished for your rude behaviour during supper tonight. Mum actually asked me if you've always made a habit of licking your fingers clean after eating. And I'm not sure but I do think she made a comment about not being able to wait for us to leave so she doesn't have to change her knickers after every meal."

"That small detail was best left unknown."

"You deserved it."

"Kiss me?"

Rose grinned and shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

Rose wrinkled her nose. "With how you've been sticking almost anything in your mouth for the past week? No telling what sort of germs you got in your mouth."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Like you've never had disgusting things in your mouth then a few moments later kissed me."

Rose pursed her lips. "Like when?"

"Oh I don't know…" the Doctor hummed. "Been to Kyoto lately?" He sighed slightly. "I know for a fact I can still make you just grab me and snog me senseless." When Rose shook her head negatively the Doctor huffed, "Oh I know I can. So don't pretend I can't. I know I've still got it."

"You _so _haven't got it," Rose teased.

"I do!"

"Well, prove it then. If you've still got it that means you can still make me willingly snog you senseless of my own accord," Rose challenged. "But I'm not gonna 'cause contrary to what this new ego of yours has you thinking, you're not completely irresistible."

The Doctor shrugged slightly and sat up so that he was looming over Rose while still straddling her legs. He was more than willing to take on Rose's challenge. Rose nibbled on the corner of her lower lip as she watched him loosen his tie, he also unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and carefully rolled each sleeve up to his elbows. And, though she tried hard not to, a scoff-like laugh escaped from her mouth.

"Oh I get it," she commented. "It used to be 'straightening the leather jacket' meant you were about to get down to business… Now it's loosening the tie and rolling up the sleeves." She couldn't fight the huge grin that was over-taking her face. "Not very intimidating really."

As if to prove his seriousness, the Doctor pulled a pair of thick-rimmed glasses seemingly out of nowhere, put them on, and peered down at her with a semi-dangerous look in his eyes. Rose managed to look intimidated for three whole seconds before bursting into laughter.

"What are you going to do? Bore me to death with physics?"

"What's so wrong with physics?"

Rose reached up and grabbed the Doctor's tie again, yanking his face closer to hers. "Nothing. Except, maybe the lingering _ponderance_ of why couldn't I have had someone like you for a science teacher. I may have thought you were a bit of a geeky sort of teacher but I most definitely would have been trying to become your favourite student… or finding a way to earn extra credit."

"It's never too early or too late to start trying," the Doctor grinned.

Rose knew he was trying his damnedest to get her to be the one to kiss him first, but his clever ploys were not going to work… no matter how many spoons or fingers he licked clean. She felt she could handle it, no matter how tempted she got while watching him slowly dart his tongue across his lips like he was tempted to give her a tiny taste. Though, given the amount of random things he had been sticking in his mouth the past few days --

Rose didn't have time to finish her thought because the Doctor leaned in and ran his tongue along her jaw line until he reached her ear lobe. He gently flicked the skin with his tongue then drew it into his mouth for a more thorough taste.

_That's all right then_, she could hear his voice in her mind. _Plenty of other places for me to get samples_. With that his mouth slid down the side of her throat, his tongue carefully stroking over the suddenly rapid pulse he found there. Rose wondered if the Doctor knew she could hear him, if she knew that he rather liked the flavour he found in one tiny little spot at the nape of her neck.

"Doctor," Rose said, a little too breathlessly so that it didn't catch his attention. So, she cleared her throat and stated a little more firmly, "Doctor." His head jerked up and he looked down at her, confused. "You're thinking too loud."

The Doctor's face twisted slightly in even more confusion. "What?"

"You're thinking too loud," Rose repeated, this time tapping her temple.

"Sorry," he said with hushed shyness.

Rose wasn't about to complain because as soon as he went back to what he was doing, the only things she could hear were the content sounds crawling out of the back of his throat. He dotted feathery kisses over one of her shoulders and down her arm before repeating on the other side then sat upright and brought her hands to his mouth. He trailed his tongue over each of her palms before turning his attention to her fingers.

Instead of promptly drawing them into his mouth, he studied Rose's fingers curiously then lightly gave them a sniff. "What were you doing earlier when your bedroom door was locked and you had the 'do not disturb' thing on your door?" he asked simply.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Rose retorted, watching the Doctor nuzzle his nose against her curled in fingers with his nose.

"I have a time machine," he said slowly. "I can hop in, go back to that time and peep in through your window and see for myself. Or, who's to say I haven't already done so?" He gave his eyebrows a suggestive waggle then hooked his tongue around one of her little fingers as he drew it into his mouth.

Rose forgot to breathe as the Doctor whirled his tongue around her finger while he slowly withdrew the digit until only the very tip of it was in his mouth. He gave the tip of her finger a slight nibble then sucked it back into his mouth, his eyes fluttering closed in contentment as a soft moan worked its way out of his throat. He repeated the action a couple more times before turning his attention to the little finger on her other hand where he gave it the same attention he had given her other finger.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, Rose debated that maybe she should be a little freaked out by the fact there was a new man looming over her. One that was currently giving similar attention to each of her fingers and flashing her a dark look of desire between each one. Somewhere, her mind was trying to tell her that it was a stranger causing all the sudden twitching and warmth between her legs. She also reasoned that she shouldn't be getting so aroused by this stranger orally gratifying her fingers.

"Doctor," Rose said quietly, almost ready to tell him to stop, that she wasn't quite ready to look into dark brown eyes just yet… Except, that when she did look into the somewhat concerned brown eyes, her heart stopped and time seemed to stand still.

The voice that had been objecting seemed to have gotten mugged by a much more vocal voice telling her that no matter what face he wore, what colour the eyes were that gazed down at her, or what sort of voice whispered in her ear… It would always be her Doctor. It was just like the age old question girls always asked their boyfriends 'Would you still love me if something happened and my face became horribly disfigured?' or some other variation that guys always promptly answered with 'Of course I would.' Then again, the more accurate question in her instance would be, 'Would you still love the Doctor if he had to die and change every last atom in his body?' -- though she couldn't exactly say he came out of the deal looking at all disfigured.

Rose finally remembered to breathe. Love? Since when did she 'love' the Doctor? The kind of love that made her stop breathing and made her heart leap into her throat at the very thought of the word? Sure, she had a rather strong fondness for him from the moment he took her hand in the basement of Henrick's… but when had this all new development come about? Or did it just seem like a new development?

The Doctor's teeth were lightly perched on the tip of one of Rose's fingers, his eyes were looking at her questioningly. When Rose gave him a smile he finished up his attention on her fingers and gave her a cheeky grin before leaning down to brush light kisses across the part of her chest exposed from her little sleeping shirt. She yelped slightly when the Doctor's icy cold hands found their way under the bottom of the little shirt to run his fingers across her stomach and further upwards, dragging the bottom of the shirt up with his hands.

Once his mouth left her chest, it went straight to her navel where his tongue darted into the indention. His hands slid further up the shirt, fingers lightly grazing the sides of her breasts as his mouth and tongue began straying upward, away from her navel. Rose lifted her shoulders slightly so the Doctor could sweep the night shirt over her head and onto the floor. She shivered slightly at the sound of the soft sigh the Doctor released as his mouth closed around one hard nipple.

His tongue stroked the hardened nub while he gently nibbled at it with his teeth. His hands were busying themselves stroking down Rose's sides and tugging at the strings that kept her pyjama pants in place. Rose inhaled sharply as one of the Doctor's cool hands slipped past the loosened waistband, to the soft curls between her legs as his mouth switched to the nipple he had yet to give attention to.

Rose let her legs part to grant the Doctor better access and was rather surprised when his fingers didn't stray from where they were. Instead he continued to gently pet the soft curls and twirl them around his finger. His mouth trailed away from her breasts, taking time to nibble and lick at each of her sides.

Rose jumped slightly and a yelp escaped between her lips when the Doctor found a rather tender spot to brush his teeth across on her side. He raised his head slightly, a wicked little smirk on the corner of his mouth, then leaned down to brush his teeth over the spot again. When Rose jumped a second time and shuddered the Doctor pulled his hand out of her pyjama pants.

"Alright, that's it. Turn over," he instructed.

Rose blinked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You heard me," he sighed, making a slight sweeping motion with his hand. "Turn over. This jumping and gasping thing you're doing needs to be further researched."

"Why?!" Rose smacked her hand over her mouth to hide a laugh. She hadn't intended to sound moody because he was by no means doing what she wanted or expected him to do. So, she simply turned over in a mirth of giggles. That is… until the Doctor's teeth started attacking her back.

In some spots she was unaffected by the gentle scrape of his teeth against her skin. In others, his tongue caused her to sigh softly… in the same spots his teeth caused her body to spasm, making her cry out in pleasure.

Wait… that couldn't have been right… Who ever heard of erogenous spots on the back?

Rose jerked and moaned again went the Doctor aggressively bit down on a spot just below her shoulder blade. _Okay so maybe the Doctor had heard of them_… Any of the blokes from her past had obviously never thought of it -- well, except maybe one but that didn't really count -- and she was thanking every star in the sky that they hadn't other wise she didn't think she would actually be getting off on the sensations shooting through her body like sharp currents of electricity.

When her soft whimpers and moans became louder and more high pitched, the Doctor threw himself over her and hurriedly slipped a hand over her mouth. "Shhhh," he whispered in her ear, laughter ringing in his voice. "Your mum is close by remember?"

Without much effort, Rose nudged the Doctor's hand away from her mouth. "Not my fault you found a new play spot," Rose meant to hiss but it came out sounding more like a breathless sigh.

"Oh this is only the beginning of the new things I plan on doing to you."

His tone had dropped to a low, almost growl against her ear. It was deep and full of lust, desire, and other things Rose couldn't readily put a label to… she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to put a label to them. Instead she took a moment to catch her breath.

"New Doctor new things yeah?" Rose asked, nudging the Doctor off of her so that she could turn onto her back again.

"For the most part yeah," the Doctor said, propping on his elbow next to her. He slowly licked his lips as his eyes roamed away from her face. When he spoke again, he sounded more distracted than anything else. "New body… may like completely… different… things. Which reminds me… I think, while we were in Kyoto… you did something I rather enjoyed… and…"

His eyes met hers again when his hand slipped back into her pyjama pants. In the near dark of the bedroom, the Doctor's brown eyes looked almost black. Rose had found herself so distracted by his steady gaze that she hadn't been paying attention to what the Doctor's hand had been doing in her pyjama pants until she felt two of his fingers slide deep inside of her. She gasped softly, her eyes fluttering closed, he pressed in deeper.

"And…" the Doctor squeaked. Rose could hear him clear his throat and leaned down so his lips were close to her ear again. "And," he repeated, in a more even tone. "I recall saying that I should do something similar to you sometime."

Rose was vaguely aware that the Doctor was speaking. He was always speaking, come to think of it… She caught only the last half of what he was saying and whimpered and nodded. She had better things to concentrate on like how his breath felt on that sensitive spot just below her ear and the way his fingers kept brushing an even more sensitive place inside of her.

She felt his long fingers curve inside of her, bringing the very tip of his fingers to hit their mark, joined by the pad of his thumb pressed against her clit. Rose inhaled sharply, her eyes snapping open when he did it again… and again… and again. By time he pressed against the spot for a fifth and sixth time, Rose lost most of her ability to coherently communicate. Her body was trembling by the seventh. The eighth stroke had her gripping his arm in a very vain and unsuccessful attempt to stop any further attention before she lost all coherency. On the ninth, she completely forgot what coherency was supposed to mean.

On the tenth and final stroke she was screaming into the Doctor's mouth as she came. By time she regained her senses, the Doctor was alternately admiring the hand that had just been down in her pyjama pants and giving her a naughty little smirk that would have made Madonna blush. To her surprise -- or maybe not -- the Doctor placed the two fingers that had just worked unbelievable magic on her body into his mouth.

His eyes closed in bliss as he gently sucked on his fingers. The fingers came out of his mouth and his eyes opened again. If she had thought they had looked dark just moments ago, she was mistaken.

All the maniacal geniuses and sadistic aliens they had come across had their own brand of wicked smile… All of them had just been officially knocked from Rose's mental pedestal. The one plastered on the Doctor's face could have made the devil tremble in fear. Before she could even manage a wide-eyed look of shock, the Doctor had snatched her pyjama pants off and tossed them across the room.

When she noticed the direction his mouth was heading for, she promptly grabbed him by a fist full of hair to stop him. "No." She saw a confused look phantom the Doctor's features. "I won't like it," Rose assured. "I can promise you that. Anyone that's tried couldn't get anything out of me -- not that very many have tried that is."

The Doctor opened and closed his mouth a few times, his eyes drifting back to the prize his mouth had been seeking. His tongue darted out for a fraction of a second and then he started whimpering… _whimpering_. Her Doctor was whimpering like a little pup that had a rather tasty treat being held just out of his reach.

"But… but… but…" the Doctor pouted. He stopped whimpering and cleared his throat, bringing a sharp gaze to hers. A rather unnerving gaze, a solid look of challenge. It made Rose shiver. When he next spoke, his voice sounded as dark as the gaze fixed on her face. He reached up and removed her hold on his hair. "Obviously, they didn't know what they were doing," he growled, then his tongue darted out to moisten his lips.

Rose wondered when the feeling that her body had turned into goo occurred. She fancied it had happened shortly after the Doctor had licked his lips…

Not that she had much time to deliberate the idea before the Doctor's mouth finished its journey to her already wet and throbbing centre. His hands roamed all about her stomach and legs as his mouth and tongue worked its magic on her clit. The long, deep moan that he gave only served to add to the sensations. Before long, his hands ceased exploring and slipped between her legs to assist his probing tongue.

Rose wasn't completely sure what he was doing, not that she could concentrate on any of it with the way her body had started involuntarily twitching. One of her hands went to the Doctor's hair, clutching the thick locks tightly when wave after wave of pleasure crashed through her. Then, just as she was about to reach orgasm for the second time that night, the Doctor's mouth stopped and he lifted his head slightly.

She looked at him sharply and a wicked grin spread across his face. "Call me crazy but based on your reactions and the way it feels like I'm going to be scalped at any moment… I'd say you are thoroughly enjoying this, contrary to what you said. Then again I could just be mistaken and --"

"Oh shut up already!" Rose snapped.

With a frustrated growl, Rose used the grip she had on the Doctor's hair to yank his mouth back where it belonged. She was glad he didn't object, just went back to his previous task with even more vigour than before.

Her head was spinning, her body was going into spasms, her throat was starting to feel sore and dry -- though she couldn't figure out why. Then, without much more prelude a tingly warmth spread through her body and caused her to gasp sharply and give the hair clutched in her fist a slight twist as her limbs physically drew themselves inward.

Then her body relaxed… she felt like she was floating on a pillow of warmth, surrounded by fluffy white and pastel pink clouds. She closed her eyes and shivered as her orgasm finished shaking through her. She took a deep breath and let it raggedly escape.

When she opened her eyes, the Doctor was propped on his side and elbow, absentmindedly trailing his finger around one of her nipples. He gave it a slight pinch and grinned when Rose gave a small startle. Her eyes drifted over the Doctor lazily.

"You have on too many clothes," she pointed out, reaching up to pull at the knot of his already loose tie. Once she got it loose enough, she pulled the tie over his head and tossed it onto the floor. Her fingers went to the buttons of his shirt and carefully plucked each of the buttons out of its hole until she reached his trousers. With a couple of swift yanks, his shirt was free of his trousers and she was about to finish unbuttoning it.

Rose leaned up. In one fluid motion, she pushed the Doctor onto his back and straddled his hips. She caught the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth as she grinned down at him. His dark eyes were glimmering mischievously up at her before roaming slowly down her body. For a moment, his tongue darted out to moisten his lips. Rose wanted to just lean down and suck that naughty little tongue of his into her mouth, but the sheer knowledge of where his mouth had just been stiffened her resolve that she was going to resist the urge.

Besides, they were still engaged in a battle of the wills. If she gave in and snogged him senseless then he had every right to go about boasting how he 'still had it'. Even though she didn't yet know all the quirks of her Doctor's new body, she knew that he would be a very cheeky lad about it and bounce around the TARDIS for a month bragging. And she didn't want him doing that just yet.

Instead she pushed the shirt completely open and lightly scratched her nails down the Doctor's chest. His eyes fluttered closed and his head arched back against her pillow as he gave a ragged sigh. "You still like that then, yeah?" she asked. She felt a much more encouraging reaction beneath her, pressing against her through the material of the Doctor's trousers.

A smug little smile spread across his features. "What do _you _think?" the Doctor asked huskily.

"I think that's not an answer," Rose said. She scraped her nails down his chest again, adding a little more pressure so that she left faint little red marks. When her nails met a spot on his stomach, close to the sides, the Doctor groaned loudly and arched his hips toward her. She put a hand over his mouth and smirked, "_Now _who needs to be reminded my mum is close by?"

The Doctor shivered noticeably. "Are you going to get these clothes off of me or just sit there saying sweet nothings all night long?" He grasped Rose's waist and pulled himself to sitting up. Just before his mouth could meet hers, Rose turned her head away and he met her jaw instead.

"Doctor," Rose breathed, as his mouth and tongue slid across her jaw and neck. "You and I both know… that our 'sweet nothings' are far from being 'sweet' and are rarely about 'nothing'." She kept her hands against his cool skin as she urged the Doctor's shirt down and off his arms. After gathering the article of clothing in her hand, she tossed it to the floor with their other clothes.

The Doctor's made his way back to Rose's mouth. With a grin she turned her head the other way. She heard his frustrated groan and it only made her grin even more wickedly than before. His lips traced the line of her jaw until they reached her ear.

"Kiss me," the Doctor said with a pitiful little tone.

Rose shivered slightly at the tickling of his breath against her skin. However, she quickly regained her composer and shook her head negatively. "Nope," she said cutely. Rose yelped when the Doctor pinned her down in the bed, his eyes blazing down at her.

He leaned down until his nose was barely touching hers. "Kiss me," he growled.

"Not when I know _precisely _where your mouth has been," Rose smirked.

To Rose's surprise -- or maybe not -- the Doctor crushed his mouth down on hers. She placed her hands on his sides then slid them lower. She tugged on the back of the trousers he was still wearing and yanked her mouth away from his. He tried to recapture her mouth, but she turned her head away each time.

"Hold on…" she said with a heavy sigh. "You're not naked yet." She tugged on the back of his trousers again.

"Why are you so eager to get me naked?" the Doctor asked teasingly, his lips against her cheek. "Wanting to see everything are we?"

"No," Rose replied. "I've already seen it all when I was getting you into Howard's pyjamas. Besides, you were the one just complaining about me not having you naked yet."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and the ghost of a smirk appeared at the corner of his lips. Rose could tell he wanted to make some kind of crude comment -- _that_ hadn't changed, she thought with amusement. She slowly grinned up at him as her fingers made quick work of the fastener of his trousers. The Doctor disappeared for a moment to shake himself out of the confining article of clothing.

However, Rose was forced to look over and laugh when she heard him swear profusely, followed by a thud as he fell off the bed. He was still grumbling as he picked himself up off the floor. "That wouldn't have happened if we were on the TARDIS," he huffed. He moved his hands about as if indicating a much more vast surface. "Your bed there is much bigger. We could roll about on that thing for a week and never hit the same spot twice. In fact, we should try that."

"We'll try it tomorrow," Rose said hurriedly, moving to sit on her knees close to the edge of the bed. She stretched her arms toward him, offering her hands. Try as she might to avoid doing so, her eyes flickered downward for a fraction of a second. A bright smile spread across the Doctor's face and he rushed forward to take her hands.

He guided her hands around his waist and enveloped her in his arms as his mouth came down on hers again. Rose moaned softly as her mouth opened under his and his tongue dipped in to taste her. His tongue slowly explored every space it could find. He leaned into her, urging her back.

Before she could even attempt to push him away -- not that she wanted to -- Rose felt her mattress behind her. She dug her nails into his back as his hands guided her legs around his hips. The Doctor's tongue probed deeper as he positioned her legs just right to give him complete and perfect access to her body.

Rose had just let her eyes flutter closed when they popped open again as the Doctor pushed inside of her. She softly moaned into his mouth. His tongue stilled in her mouth. She could feel him trembling on top of her. All at once, the Doctor lifted his mouth from hers and gave a moan that seemed to be inter-mingled with a ragged sigh.

"That feels… _so_ good… soft… _hot_…" the Doctor breathed. He seemed to be struggling for more words, but Rose quickly leaned up to recapture his mouth with hers. The Doctor renewed his urgency to explore her mouth, but with much more vigour. His hand slipped between their bodies as he finally regained something that vaguely resembled control over his actions.

For some reason, Rose discovered she wasn't all that surprised that the Doctor's languorous thrusts were easily causing another orgasm to start to build up inside of her. It wasn't the same frenzied race to the finish like it had been the first time with the Doctor. Instead of his fingers rapidly pinching and rubbing at her clit, the cool fingers were now moving in a steady motion, in perfect rhythm to his thrusts into her body -- slowly driving Rose mad.

Each time she was sure she was about to find that release… the Doctor would lift his finger away from her clit and all but stop the gentle movements inside of her. And each time, Rose whimpered helplessly until he started again.

"This isn't fair…" Rose pouted, when she managed to wretch her mouth free once again. "You're cheating… You know what I like but I haven't a clue as to what you like…"

The Doctor leaned down, his body pressed firmly against hers and his wispy breath against in her ear. "I like how you feel… your soft body beneath mine…" He pushed a little deeper inside of Rose, causing her to gasp softly and tighten around him. "I like… No, no, no… I _love it_ when you do that… It feels really nice when you do that tightening up thing…"

Rose squeezed her eyes shut tightly. He was literally torturing her. Her body was wanting release and he wasn't giving it to her. Instead… he was running off at the mouth again, causing the tiny hairs on her skin stand on end because of his breath on sensitive spots. Somehow, she knew if they were going to end up in a tangled heap, it would be her job to do it.

With a frustrated groan, Rose managed to get the Doctor pinned against the bed again. He looked up at her a little dumbfounded at first but then he slowly grinned. Rose brushed her hair out of her face once she sat up so she could look down at him. The movements had caused his cock to push up inside of her even deeper, pressing hard against a place inside of her that was making her start to tremble.

"Since…" she breathed and shuddered slightly. "Since all you're going to do is chatter on… oh god…" an involuntary move of her hips caused ripples of pleasure to shiver through her. The sensations only multiplied when the Doctor's fingers went back to her clit

Instead of continuing her rather pointless scolding of the Doctor, Rose started moving her hips in rhythmic motions -- riding him in perfect tune to his rapid fingers. She tried to keep her eyes on the Doctor's face as she grew closer and closer to reaching her peak, but found it rather impossible when she kept wanting to throw her head back and scream.

Both of them had apparently long crossed the line of caring whether or not Jackie Tyler heard what the two of them were doing.

Rose gently pressed a hand over each of the Doctor's rapidly beating hearts. Instead of the normal beats she usually felt there, it was almost like she could feel his chest vibrating due to the speed of his racing hearts. The Doctor's eyes squeezed shut and he arched his hips toward her, straining against her with small sounds escaping through his clenched teeth.

"Oh… ooh… Ah… Hot…" the Doctor whimpered. "Tight… hot… hot…" the next string of endless babbling made absolutely no sense to Rose. Though, she doubted she would have been able to understand if she _had_ been paying attention to it. She had become decidedly distracted by the orgasm that swept through her with vengeance and even more so when she felt the Doctor release inside of her.

She collapsed on top of him, panting for breath. Once she recovered some twenty minutes later, she was surprised that the Doctor wasn't running off at the mouth again. It wasn't until she carefully slid off of him and propped up that she realized that the Doctor was barely even giving the slightest hint that he was breathing… Actually, as far as she could tell… he wasn't.

"Oh dear God, I've killed him," Rose panicked, sitting up to lightly start patting his cheeks. "Doctor?" She unsuccessfully tried to find his heart beats. "Doctor?"

Just as she was starting to worry about how to get him some help without completely undoing the history of the planet… He popped back to life with a startled cry as he sat up. He turned toward her, his eyes wild and a huge grin on his face. "We have _got_ to do that again," he said eagerly.

Rose never got the chance to voice any concern over the fact the Doctor had shown no sort of signs of life just moments ago. He had already pounced back at her, sending them both tumbling off the side of the bed and landing on the floor in a tangle of arms, legs, and bed sheets.

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"You're so naughty," Rose giggled. "Can't you give me long enough to have some breakfast with my mum and get back onboard the TARDIS before we go at it again." She gave the Doctor a slight shove. He in turn shoved her onto her bed and bounced onto the mattress next to her.

"No," he said, letting the word roll off his tongue slowly. He tugged the bottom of Rose's shirt up enough that he could plant little kisses around her navel and dip his tongue into the indention.

Rose squeaked, giggled, and swatted at the Doctor in a vain attempt to deter him. "My mum'll be up and about soon…"

"So?" the Doctor hummed against her stomach. "You were loud enough to wake the dead. Wouldn't be surprised if she already knew and is just living in fear of seeing us naked together." When he tried to push the shirt up even higher, Rose grasped his wrists and firmly pushed his hands away.

"Stop it," Rose tried to sound serious, but it came out more like she was trying not to laugh. She screamed slightly when the Doctor's fingers set themselves to tickling her sides. She tugged at the back of his coat in a weak attempt to get him off of her.

Just then the door to Rose's bedroom burst open and Jackie Tyler stood in the doorway armed with a cricket bat in her hands. "All right you, get off my daughter before I--" she blinked at them in apparent surprise. "You're not naked?"

Rose gave the Doctor a firm shove, knocking him off the bed. She gave her mother a pleasant smile. "O' course we aren't Mum," Rose said with a slight snort. She nodded toward the Doctor as he picked himself up off the floor. "His way of waking me up."

"Sorry to disappoint you with the lack of nudity though," the Doctor quipped. He smartly cringed back when Jackie raised the bat in a threatening manner. "Breakfast. Breakfast sounds wonderful right about now. Rose, I'll be in the kitchen. New body, new things to see, new things to do." He put on a big cheesy smile. "Hey, that can be the theme of the week… 'New'… Everything we do this week will revolve around the word 'new'…"

He squeezed past Jackie, eyeing the cricket bat warily. Once safely past her, he started on about his 'weekly theme' as he meandered off toward the kitchen.

"How did I end up on the sofa?" Jackie asked once the Doctor's voice faded into the kitchen.

Rose just shrugged. "The Doctor said something about you coming in and throwing yourself at him." She hopped off her bed and brushed past her mother.

"--already did New Vegas," the Doctor was muttering as she walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, with his feet propped up on it. He was also idly eating one of her mother's pudding snacks with just his finger. Suddenly, his feet came off the table and he put the pudding down on the table as if he had just had an epiphany. "New Earth! Brilliant! We could hit the capitol, have a look about. You'll love it Rose!"

"What are you on about now?" Jackie asked briskly, frowning at the half-eaten pudding on the table. "Can't you sit still for one minute without having to have your hand smacked like you're a two year old?"

The Doctor didn't seem to notice the reprimand. He was already going on about the modes of travel and the buildings of New Earth while Jackie set to making a decent breakfast for the three of them. Rose simply sat across the table from the Doctor, her cheek resting on her fist, watching his as his arms flailed about as he went on and on about where he would be taking her once they set on their way.

All Rose could think about was the ways she would be able to make him shut up.


	13. Part Thirteen: Worry

Series Title: Cravings  
Series Summary: The Doctor and Rose crave many things...

Title: WorryAuthor: Rambling Rose  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated characters are trademarks of the BBC. No profit is made to the author with use of these trademarked entities. No part of the plot or story, herein, is not to be republished without consent of the author.

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Part Thirteen - Worry

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Sarah Jane had only been a revelation. And thinking back, Rose could remember on several occasions in which the Doctor had hinted other people had traveled with him. Though, in her defense, he had never said they were humans that she could have bumped into on a normal day in London. She had been jealous for a bit, yes, but things had worked out in the end.

Besides, now Rose had someone back home she could ring up and giggle about the Doctor with... earning her a few rolled eyes in the process from the source of their amusement.

It wasn't until the space station that the Doctor became a little distant. He figuratively started pushing her more towards Mickey than himself. When Rose had her fill of it and told him off, she learned out his own personal guilt.

He felt guilty that Sarah Jane spent so long waiting for him to come back. He felt guilty that Reinette had spent the last years of her life waiting for him to return and take her to see her favourite star. That conversation ended up leading to the idea that he didn't want that to happen to Rose 'just in case' she was left somewhere he couldn't get her back. He didn't want her wasting her life waiting for him...

That night Rose had dreamt of metal men and Daleks flying past her and a bright white light. It must have been some sort of nightmare because she awoke to the Doctor shaking her and calling out her name. She had jerked awake, the Doctor's hands on her shoulders and eyes wide with panic.

"I heard you screaming for me all the way in the console room," he said, his voice up in pitch slightly. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Rose waved her hand dismissively and managed a laugh. "I'm fine... really." She suddenly realized she was trembling. She heard more footsteps and suddenly Mickey was also at her bedside, hounding her, asking her if she was all right. Rose felt her face grow warm and she lashed out, "I'm FINE! Okay?! Just back off, yeah?"

Both men stepped back in shock and looked at each other as if the other one had the answer. Rose ordered both of them out of her room.

As soon as they were both out of the room, she rolled onto her side, facing the wall. She reached out and trailed her fingers along the wall. A smile tugged at her lips as the TARDIS gave a content hum. "Thanks," she murmured. "I wish you could make the thoughts go away. I wish I didn't know... But I do, so there's no changing that is there?"

With a sigh, Rose let her mind wander to the thoughts fluttering through her brain. She didn't hear the door open, but she could feel the presence of another person in her doorway.

"I don't need a hug or anything, Mickey," Rose assured him gently.

"How'd you know it was me?" Mickey asked.

"TARDIS told me."

She felt him sit on the side of her bed and he sighed. "Do you want to talk about it, Rose? Do you get nightmares often?"

Rose bit her bottom lip. She didn't roll over to face Mickey, just continued to gently stroke the wall. "No," she said with a slight shrug, "On both counts." She was quiet a long moment then frowned. "Come on, out with it Mickey."

Mickey wasted no time in pouring out his displeasure at his travels so far.

"Does he make a habit of leaving you alone and going off with other women? 'Cause that's just not right. I'd never do something like that."

Rose rolled her eyes. She didn't feel like getting into Mickey's schemes to try and get her to leave the Doctor and go home. It was the primary reason she hadn't wanted him to come along in the first place.

"If you're referring to the fact he did it to make sure those clock men didn't muck about with history then yes. He does make a habit of it. It's what he does. He makes sure people don't get killed by psychotic robots a few years early..."

She turned to face Mickey and sat up. It got his attention and made him look at her. "He saves the world from being overtaken by subatomic robots that wanna turn humanity into gas masked zombies because they don't know any better... He's literally killed himself twice to save my life. He may have left me on my own, but he has always come back. I have no reason to doubt him. Besides, he promised to always come back if he could."

Mickey looked down, shamed by the strength of her argument. "But what if there's a day he can't come back? What do you do then?"

Rose blinked a few times. "Then I go on with my life until he can."

Mickey smiled faintly and gave her a hug. When his arm brushed the mark between her shoulders she felt an intense burning. Both of them jumped slightly. Mickey looked at his arm and Rose tried to rub the mark. "What the hell was that?" he yelp, scratching at the faint burn mark on his arm.

He gently took Rose's shoulders in his hands and turned her enough to what the Doctor had put there so long ago.

"It's nothing really, Mickey. The Doctor put it there ages ago," Rose sighed. "And yes, Mum knows I got it. She saw it over Christmas. She was a bit furious until I told her what it was for."

"Well, what's it say? What's it for?" Mickey asked.

After a moment's hesitation, Rose settled on telling Mickey the same lie she told her mother. "The Doctor put it there because I have a habit of wandering off and getting caught by the baddies. It acts as a sort of connection between us. If I'm in trouble or something it helps him find me easier without them knowing."

"Does it say anything or ---"

Rose chuckled. "Basically, it says 'If you so much as harm one particle of Rose Tyler, in any manner, the Doctor will not be held accountable for what he does to you.' It's actually a lot more drawn out and detailed but I figured it would be easier to give you the gist of it." She looked shiftily for a moment. "But, don't bring up that I know what it says all right? He doesn't know that I know."

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Don't ask," Rose assured. "Just don't tell him I know."

"I won't," Mickey promised, and Rose knew he wouldn't. "Even though it's just an elaborate child safety lock, it still looks nice."

Rose smiled and looked down at her hands, folding in her lap. Though she was fairly sure Mickey knew about whatever it was her and the Doctor had together, she knew she didn't think he needed to hear his suspicions confirmed by knowing the full context of what the mark on her back meant.

"I hope the two of you work things out then," Mickey said quietly, with a slight smile. He put a hand over Rose's and gave them a slight squeeze. "Maybe I'll just go home or something so I won't get in the way..."

"No," Rose said soothingly. "Stay, it's nice to have someone else along for the ride. Gets sort of batty when it's just me and him... No one but each other to look at. I mean, when Jack was 'ere it was always fun. You saw us. 'Into time and space!' The three of us could be like that yeah?"

After a moment of hesitant murmuring, Mickey smiled brightly. "Yeah. We can be like that. Though I won't be going about flirting with everything like Captain Jack Flash."

Rose thought for a moment. She remembered when she and the Doctor had been in Rome, the only thing that had given her hope once Ursus had started turning her into stone was the fact she had recalled all the different time and places she would still exist. Though she thought it best the Doctor not know she remembered it all, she did. She remembered wiping out all the Daleks and she remembered bringing Jack back to life.

Then again, another Jack had shown her things that confirmed Harkness was still alive and doing very well indeed.

"He died protecting the Doctor from Daleks," Rose finally said with great affection. "But he came back to life and went on to better things."

Mickey gave her another hug, taking care to not brush against the mark between her shoulders. He placed a chaste kiss on her cheek and left the room without another word.

Rose smiled to herself and laid back down, facing the wall. She tossed her duvet to the foot of the bed and only let the cotton sheet come up to her waist. Feeling content, she let her eyes drift closed.

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No sooner than Rose had made herself comfortable and closed her eyes she felt another presence behind her. She pretended to be asleep so that maybe the intruder would go away and let her sleep. Her door silently shut but she could hear the gentle sound of footsteps across the carpeting.

He wasn't wanting to disturb her, she could tell. Usually he would find reasons to be loud and obnoxious if he was trying to wake her up. The bed dipped slightly, indicating that he had sat down on the bed.

The moment a cool finger touched her arm, Rose felt glad she had decided to wear the flimsy little camisole pajama set. The Doctor's finger trailed up her arm, along her shoulder, then traced the lines of the mark on her back. She felt a faint warmth for the duration of his finger lazily tracing each line of the brand.

It caused Rose to softly gasp. But, unlike when Mickey had touched it, it didn't burn. In fact, it felt rather nice, like slowly submerging herself into a hot bubble bath. It released pleasure and contentment.

"I should remove it," the Doctor softly murmured. "Mickey came and complained that it burnt him when he gave you a friendly hug. Had to patch up the burn mark on his arm. It could prove disastrous if we ever get separated for a long period of time and you try to move on with your life."

"You promised you wouldn't leave me behind," Rose purred. "So I see no reason for you to remove it."

The Doctor's hand jerked away suddenly. Rose rolled onto her back and gave the Doctor a gentle smile. He didn't see it however, because he had his face in his hands. He sighed heavily and let his hands drop as he looked at her. "I can't always be sure of that Rose. Look at what happened on that space station. I had no way of getting back to you and you had no way of getting home."

Rose shrugged. "But you came back. I mean, yeah we had no choice but to wait... not like I had many options for larking off and having a fantastic life." She gave him cheeky smile. "Though the TARDIS was still lovely and alive so Mickey and I would have been able to survive fine until you found a way back."

The Doctor gave a sad smile. "See? That situation could have easily turned out badly."

"But... it... didn't..." Rose said slowly, poking his leg with each of the three words. "So why worry about it?" She sat up and cradled his face in her hands. "You're here, I'm here, Mickey's here, the TARDIS is here... We're all alive and happy." She looked at the ceiling then back at him with a wrinkled-nose grin. "Well, except for you. You're miserable for some odd reason that doesn't matter."

There was a tiny glimmer of light in the Doctor's eyes as a smile spread across his features. He took her wrists gingerly in his hands and kissed each of her palms. "You don't play fair," he scolded weakly. "Why do you have to make so much sense at times?"

"Because, sometimes you don't. So someone has to make you sort it all out, yeah?" Rose teased. "Besides, that's what people like us do when they l--" she stopped, the Doctor looked almost hopeful for a moment. "When they worry over each other. And I do... I worry about you."

The look on the Doctor's face seemed to sadden a little. He lifted a hand to gently stroke Rose's cheek. "I worry about you too," he said softly, his tone laced with something Rose thought she had heard in his voice before. He brushed her hands off his face before leaning in to gently kiss her.

Rose kept him close by clasping her fingers behind his neck and slowly leaning back in her bed until she was laying down with him somewhat on top of her. She had the vague feeling that the words they had just said went way beyond what they literally were. At least, she knew hers did... she had almost let the words she really wanted to say slip.

The Doctor's mouth became more urgent and demanding against hers. It quickly became apparently that it would take more than a kiss to reassure him this time. He needed to know without a doubt that he was forgiven and that everything would be okay...

She slipped her fingers from behind his neck and settled for grasping his tie instead. Tilting her head just enough to break the kiss, Rose whispered, "I need you Doctor. I need you right here... right now..." She felt him try to pull away both physically and mentally. "Don't... Please... Here..."

It didn't take much of a tug at his tie to have the Doctor exactly where she needed him to be. She could feel the moment his resolve melt away and he accepted the forgiveness she was offering to him. She spent the rest of the night offering the Doctor freedom from the guilt he had let build up inside of him throughout his multitudes of years.

The next "morning" Rose could hardly walk without feeling a twinge of pain between her legs. The Doctor leapt around the console like a madman and let Mickey help pilot the TARDIS since Rose wasn't feeling too well. He had been energetic before, but it was the first time Rose could say she looked at him and truly saw a whole new person that didn't have the weight of the universe on his shoulders.

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They visited wonderous places and, for once, didn't have to run for their lives... Unless they counted when Mickey ate something the Doctor had warned him not to eat in the first place. The moment had resulted in Mickey becoming rather sick at his stomach and having to occasionally make a mad dash for restrooms.

And true to his word, Mickey was almost just like having Jack on board again -- including a few well placed innuendos toward the Doctor which led to more jokes and laughter between the three of them. Rose delighted in having her two favourite people on either side of her, holding her hand as they leisurely walked along or dashed off together to investigate some sort of attraction that could have had some sort of hostile alien plot behind it.

While investigating and goofing off in the console room, they were three. "The Magic Number" the Doctor insisted more than once. When Rose was in her room it was just her and the Doctor -- one seeking salvation, the other offering it with no questions asked.

Each morning the Doctor seemed to have a little less weight on his shoulders. It became rare to see him without a smile on his face, even when they had to overthrow vicious overlords that needed to be taken down a notch. They went near and far looking for adventure and found it. They stopped in to see Jackie and found some more dangerous adventures then were off again "Into Time and Space!"

They met famous faces the whole world knew, and ones that hadn't been born yet. They even met the real Arthur Dent, who was oddly enough an author from the 57th century and was about as human as the TARDIS. Even odder was the fact he turned out to be a she, which perplexed Mickey to no end.

The Doctor had even taken to playing dastardly tricks on Rose and Mickey. Including a moment that Mickey didn't get to witness due to sleeping, which had Rose standing at the console holding down a useless button for nearly two hours while the Doctor casually talked about some past adventures. In the end, Rose found it funny so the Doctor schemed to play the same trick on Mickey sometime soon.

The trick went off without a hitch, it helped that Rose had been in on the cleverness. It wasn't until shortly after Mickey let go of the button that all the jokes and fun came to an abrupt end and it was once again just the Doctor and Rose once again.

The Doctor admitted to actually being rather fond of Mickey from the travels. Rose admitted that things just seemed to go wrong when they found a third person. The Doctor agreed and they vowed to try and keep it just the two of them, with only temporary third persons so they wouldn't become too attached again.

It took some time to get over losing Mickey but the Doctor and Rose kept to their 'No Third's rule. Upon the "No Thirds" rule being mentioned, the Doctor took Rose to meet Orson Scott Card. The three of them laughed over various things and then the Doctor and his Rose went on to their next adventure.

Of course, everything was fine because the Doctor and Rose worried about each other too much to let anything bad happen to the other.


End file.
